


Magic Markers

by Anonymous



Category: A3! (Anime), A3! (Video Game)
Genre: Anal Sex, Friendship, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, M/M, Marriage, Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags, Past Underage, Rimming, Romance, Schmoop, Secret Marriage, Secret Relationship, Switching
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-05
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-19 01:20:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 21,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29866986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Something old, something new, something borrowed, and something…One afternoon, Omi and Taichi make an impulsive decision and learn that sometimes easy choices come with hard consequences. But even when the going gets tough, they’ll find a way to keep fighting for what matters most. Sometimes you must work for your happiness.Or, “the three times Omi carried Taichi across the threshold.”
Relationships: Fushimi Omi/Nanao Taichi
Comments: 9
Kudos: 33
Collections: A3! Big Bang 2021, Anonymous





	Magic Markers

Where it all started didn’t really matter. How and when Omi confessed; why Taichi decided he was worth a shot; even all the little things that happened after – those were irrelevant in the big picture. Something that just happened, as cold and cruel as that might sound. What really mattered, the big, memorable, heart-stopping moments, came after that.

No, the real story started one rainy afternoon, early on in their relationship.

The two of them were alone in the main room, cleaning up after lunch. Someone had left the TV on, leaving the drone of some variety news program as background noise. It was serene, in the most mundane sense. Outside of their dorm room, opportunities to just exist together were rare, and Omi wanted to enjoy every second of it.

He made a precursory glance around the room, double-checking that no one was in sight before joining Taichi at the table, where he was clearing the last of the remaining plates. He leaned down, pressing a kiss to the nape of Taichi’s neck.

Taichi squirmed, thankfully putting the plate in his hand down before he risked dropping it. “Omi-kun!”

“Taichi,” he teased back, before doing it again.

“That tickles, stop!” He turned around, a large grin lighting up his face. “Y’know, _you’re_ the one that’s gonna get in trouble if someone catches us.”

“Is that so?”

“Uh-huh.” He placed his hands on Omi’s hips, batting his eyelashes as he put on an exaggerated expression of feigned innocence. “I’m just a poor, defenseless teenager being taken advantage of by a big, scary college student. He wooed me with his motorcycle and manly charm, completely out of my control.”

“All it took was the motorcycle? Wow, I should have led off with that when we first met.” Omi chuckled, pushing Taichi into the edge of the table. He smiled, pleased when he quickly caught on and hopped up to sit on the surface. “Would have saved me a lot of anxiety.”

“Excuse you,” Taichi huffed, breaking character. “I said it was your manly charm too. I’m not _that_ easy!”

“Sorry, sorry…”

“Where was I? Oh, yeah.” He cleared his throat and continued, “Someone could walk in at any moment and catch us. Think of the scandal! Sakyo-nii might just kick you out to save face.”

“And risk going back to curry on the daily? I doubt somebody wouldn’t step up to defend me just for that.”

“It starts an all-out civil war, tearing the entire company apart. Families ripped apart, friendships destroyed, curry _everywhere_. A serious bloodbath, Omi-kun. All because you just can’t keep your hands off me.”

“Well then, I guess we’ll just have to make sure we don’t get caught.” Omi hooked his fingers under Taichi’s jaw, tilting his head up before pressing their lips together in a soft kiss. His heart pounded in his ears when he was kissed back, a warm sensation melting him from the inside out. He pressed further, gently coaxing open Taichi’s mouth to slide his tongue in.

Taichi pulled away for a moment, most likely catching his breath because he still hadn’t gotten used to breathing through his nose, before placing a quick second and third peck. He curled his fingers around Omi’s shirt, “Omi-kun, I—”

“—And for our next story, a monumental change to civil liberties,” the newscaster cut into their train of thought, drawing their attention away. “After taking in some consideration from the lawsuit that was settled earlier this year, the Diet has passed a measure that will allow the legal marriage of same-sex partners throughout the country. The measure is scheduled to be fully enacted by next spring and will include partnership certificates that have been previously issued in participating wards and prefectures.”

The rest of the story didn’t make its way through Omi’s brain as the program’s panel debated the issue amongst themselves. Instead, he was entirely focused on the subject matter itself. He vaguely remembered hearing about a large class action suit involving a group of same-sex couples that wanted their partnership certificates to carry over to other prefectures, years ago. It had been right after Nachi’s death that he couldn’t bear to look into it more then. Eventually, he had just forgotten about the matter and had gotten caught up in trying to put the shambles of his life back together, with marriage being a far away, vague thought.

He thought he was over all things close to romantic. That had only recently changed.

Beneath him, Taichi shifted and softly laughed. He pulled Omi a little closer by his shirt, “Hey, Omi-kun…” he started, “Why don’t we get married?”

And at that moment in time, Omi wasn’t exactly sure what to feel. He couldn’t tell how serious Taichi was – especially when they still hadn’t used words like “exclusive”, “long-term”, or even “boyfriends”. It could have been a joke, part of the weird chemistry between them. Omi didn’t want to read more into it, feeling that if he put too much of his heart into the question he was only going to get hurt again.

Despite everything, he still wondered if one day Taichi would get bored with him. There was always a chance he _could_ become that weird older guy, stealing away someone who had an entire future ahead of him. One that didn’t necessarily need him in it.

The thought of losing his second greatest love was enough to drive a knife through his chest.

So, he put that thought deep into a box – just as unreachable as the rest of the things he didn’t want to dwell on. He laughed back and placed a kiss on Taichi’s forehead. “Maybe when you’re older.”

He pushed off the table and patted Taichi’s leg. “Come on, let’s finish cleaning before we _do_ get caught. We’re taking too many chances.”

For a while, it ended there. Life went on as it was supposed to, and their relationship progressed along with it. It was still close to the vest, although not an intentionally. It just felt like every time they _were_ ready to say something, more pressing issues would pop up or someone else would bring up their own new, budding relationship and they didn’t want to steal someone else’s thunder. But that was okay. They didn’t need anyone’s validation or recognition; they loved each other and that was all that mattered.

Omi kept Taichi’s impromptu proposal out of his mind, still reluctant to overthink it and get his hopes up. When he did bother to remember, his chest would feel tight with good and bad feelings. Emotionally, it was a lot to handle and in time, he was sure that Taichi had forgotten about it completely. 

That is, until the night of Taichi and Tenma’s makeshift graduation ceremony in the courtyard.

Taichi crawled into his lap on their couch, still dressed in his gakuran with the flower pin attached to the jacket. He wrapped his arms around Omi’s neck, cheeks red but with determination in his eyes.

He had whispered, “Am I old enough now, Omi-kun?”

Less than a week later, they found themselves sitting on a train to the ward office. They had only managed to get away for the day with little suspicion through some careful maneuvering and being less than completely honest with the rest of the troupe. The story was that they were each heading out to separate graduation celebrations with their families. They even made a point to leave time between their departures so it wouldn’t seem like they were heading out together. It hadn’t been a total lie since those visits _were_ planned, they were just making a detour along the way. Either way, it was not the first time they had snuck away for some alone time and they were used to bending the truth.

The previous days had been a rush of preparation and paperwork. They had needed to fill out the registration form, as well as all the documentation Taichi needed for his parents to give appropriate permission. All that was left to do was press their seals in the appropriate place and hand it off to the officiant, and then they would be married.

Married. Capital-M, lifetime commitment _Married._

Next to him, Taichi was re-reading the documents in the folder he’d placed on his lap. His eyes lit up as he went over each and every word for what had to be the hundredth time, squirming with excitement.

Omi wanted to feel the same way, and in a lot of ways he did. Never in a million years had he thought he would get married in general, much less in such a whirlwind fashion. On the same token, however, he couldn’t help but feel an anxious twist in his gut. This was a big step and what-ifs kept popping up in his mind. He shifted in his seat, leaning against Taichi.

“So,” he started, voice tight as he struggled to get out the words. “Last chance if you wanna back out.”

Taichi shook his head, “Are you kidding me? I’ve been thinking about this for _ever_ , Omi-kun.” He frowned, lowering his voice, “Unless you—”

“No!” He cringed when his voice cracked and cleared his throat. “I wouldn’t have let it go this far if I didn’t want to. But…you’re going to be starting university in a couple of weeks. I’m sure you’ll want to experience everything without me weighing you down.”

“Who says you’re weighing me down? I like having you around.” He shrugged, flipping the folder closed. “I would have done this sooner if you would’ve let me. I’m not going to let another hotshot university guy steal me away that easily.”

That was enough to make Omi laugh. “‘Hotshot university guy?’ I’ll have you know I’ll be a working adult soon enough.”

“Exactly, I upgraded.” Taichi bumped into Omi’s shoulder, smiling softly. “So, stop worrying about it, okay? I want to marry you. Nothing would make me happier.”

Omi felt his heartbeat pound in his ears, butterflies in his stomach turning into hummingbirds. “Yeah. I feel the same way.”

“Besides, Fushimi Taichi has a nice ring to it – too bad I can’t use it professionally. My Instablam handle is too good to give up anyway.”

“Okay, now I know you’re just being a brat.”

“Yeah, but I’m _your_ brat.” He stuck out his tongue.

“Yeah…” Omi’s voice went soft, “You sure are.” 

* * *

“Fushimi-san, please put your seal right here…” The officiant, a quiet middle-aged man, indicated a spot on the form with his finger. He moved to another one, “Nanao-san, put yours here as well.”

Omi pressed the end of his _jitsuin_ in the pad of red ink on the officiant’s desk before moving to place his seal where he was told. The two of them had gotten a handful of strange looks when they’d come into the ward office – but he wasn’t entirely sure if it was because of their obvious age difference or just the fact they were two men. Luckily, they weren’t questioned too much when they were called up to turn in their paperwork.

The officiant hummed softly, taking the registration paper after Taichi pressed his seal into the paper. He looked it over along with the other documentation before nodding. “Okay, everything is set. Congratulations on your marriage.”

Omi arched an eyebrow, “That’s it?”

“Unless something pops up later, that’s it. It will take a few days for everything to finalize, but if we have an issue, we’ll call you to take care of it.”

“So…we’re married now?” Taichi tentatively approached. “That was easier than I thought.”

“Well, this is only the legal side of it. Whatever you choose to do after this is up to you.” He placed the paperwork down to shake both of their hands. “You’re both young, but I’m sure you’ll do fine. Congratulations again.”

Admittedly, everything felt disconnected and fuzzy for a few minutes after that. Before the words could fully sink into Omi’s mind, the two of them were standing outside of the ward office.

“I don’t know why I thought there would be more to it than that…” he managed, as the fuzziness started to give way to adrenaline. “But here we are.”

“Here we are…” Taichi repeated, before grabbing Omi’s hand and lacing their fingers together. He gave a light squeeze, voice picking up in speed and pitch as he continued, “Here we are…married. Hitched. Wedded. Husbands.”

“Husbands…holy shit.” Omi’s heart fluttered out of control and it was dizzying. He wondered if maybe he was having a heart attack, that the shock of what they had just done was going to kill him. But, god, what a way to go if it did.

“Is that all you wanna say?”

“No.” In a split second he pulled Taichi closer and leaned down, kissing him in a way that might have been a bit too hard and a little too inappropriate for a public setting. But he couldn’t help himself, especially when Taichi so eagerly kissed him back. He pulled away, finally bringing his hands up to cup Taichi’s face. “I love you so much. How about that?”

Taichi grinned back at him, lifting himself up just enough to kiss Omi again. “I love you too! More than anyone else.” He patted the palm of his hand on Omi’s chest. “We just _did that_! In public! Can you believe it? Who’s gonna stop us now? No one, that’s who! Because I can kiss my husband any time I want to.”

“I’m sure a few people are going to take it the wrong way.” Still, he shrugged and held Taichi closer. Even if someone did try to confront them or give them problems, there was no way he was going to let this little bit of happiness get taken away from him by someone else. He squeezed him into another hug before finally letting go. “Okay, enough PDA. Aren’t we supposed to meet up with your parents?”

“I mean” – Taichi looked away, biting his lower lip as he tried and failed to look the least bit inconspicuous. – “We don’t _have_ to. We could just skip right ahead and meet up with them some other time. You know, move onto…other things.”

A dirty, traitorous part of Omi, buried deep inside his psyche where he kept all of his worst tendencies, considered that. After all, as Taichi had said moments earlier, who was going to stop them now that they were married? Taichi _was_ still a minor and their relationship basically made Omi his guardian for the time being. Luckily, the more sane and responsible parts of his brain caught up and shoved those thoughts back down where they belonged. “As tempting as that sounds. I don’t think it’s a great impression on my part, since I’m already stealing their oldest son away.”

Taichi pouted but shrugged in agreement. “I guess you’re right. We’ll have the rest of the day anyway, I don’t think they’ll want to have us hanging around for too long anyway.”

* * *

That afternoon, Omi realized there was plenty of weight to the phrase “famous last words.”

What was supposed to be a quick lunch with Taichi’s parents (not an _official_ celebration of their marriage by any means, that was going to be the following afternoon when Omi’s dad could reasonably get off work) managed to stretch into an hours-long visit. There was the lunch itself, followed by Taichi’s mother insisting they come by the house, and then it had been even harder to leave when Mirai and Masato came home from school.

If Omi were more of the suspicious type, he would have been convinced that it was some kind of elaborate scheme of the Nanaos to protect their son’s virtue from his upcoming wedding night. Admittedly, they were years too late for that, but Omi was more than happy to keep that fact to himelf..

The two of them finally managed to cut out before dinner, much to the disappointment of Taichi’s younger siblings. Luckily, there were promises of meeting up the next day and that was enough to satisfy them momentarily. Omi only felt a little guilty when he and Taichi lied about going out to dinner to celebrate privately.

After all, they had other things on their minds.

Along their way back towards the station, the two of them stopped into a convenience store to pick up some necessary supplies. They knew from experience that while the hotel would provide some things in the room and there were amenities they could pick up separately, it was cheaper to just bring their own along. Better to be safe than sorry, Omi reminded himself as he picked up a pack of condoms he knew they were only going to use sparingly anyway. He tossed them in the basket alongside the lube Taichi had dropped in before scurrying off elsewhere. 

Taichi tapped on his shoulder just as Omi rounded the corner to head into another aisle filled with office supplies. “Omi-kun, check this out.” He held out a pair of freshly printed photos. It was a selfie they’d taken while waiting at the ward office. The framing was off, cutting off Omi’s shoulder, with the back of a stranger’s head in the background. They looked ridiculous in their light jackets and hats, but from their smiles, there wasn’t any doubt that they were happy and excited. “They have a kiosk where you can print out pictures from your phone. I made you a copy too.”

“I guess this could be considered our wedding photo. I’m going to have to frame it when we get back home.”

“Do you see any of those circle stickers? The colored ones you put in planners and stuff?” Taichi frowned, looking over the supplies in front of them. “I don’t want to wait until I get home to put a sticker on it.”

“It looks like they’re out…”

“Aw, man. I don’t even know if I have any left, I used a bunch after graduation.” He wrinkled his brow and muttered to himself before grabbing a small package of magic markers. “Ah-hah! This works, I’ll just write the date on the back with the yellow one. Then I won’t mess the picture up either.” He added them into the basket. “Is that everything?”

“I think so, I already have some stuff and a change of clothes in my bag.” 

“So, does that mean I don’t have to wait anymore…?” Taichi’s trailed his fingers along Omi’s hand, tilting his head down and looking up at him. It had only taken a few months for him to figure out all of Omi’s weak points and he wasn’t afraid to use any of them.

“Keep doing that and we won’t make it to the hotel.”

“Maybe that’s the plan.” He tugged at his wrist, pulling Omi down the aisle. “Come on, before I drag _you_ into the restroom or something.”

* * *

From there, it felt like Omi couldn’t bear to keep his hands off Taichi. Each and every time they ducked away from the main road to kiss in a hidden corner or feel each other up behind some vending machines, Omi grew more and more concerned that they wouldn’t make it to their destination before he did something drastic. By the time they _did_ make it to the hotel, Taichi was a mess of giggling nerves and hormones, leaning into Omi at every available moment. Omi wasn’t faring much better, as he encouraged it and kissed at the bare skin on Taichi’s neck between his jacket and hairline.

While they had considered spending their wedding night in a fancier, more mainstream place – it had been too short notice for either of them to pool the money together for a single night’s stay. Instead, they picked a familiar love hotel for their wedding night. They could get most of the same benefits as they would at a regular hotel for significantly less money, and it came with an added nostalgia, because it was the first hotel they’d ever gone to together. With the added privacy, they didn’t have to worry about unneeded assumptions either.

Taichi brought his hand up to the screen to make their usual selection, a mostly basic room without much of a theme behind it. Omi grabbed his hand, kissing at his wrist. “Why don’t we go for something different?”

“Can we afford it?”

“I looked it up, it’s still cheaper than a regular hotel even if we pick a nicer room.” He reached over and switched over to the luxury rooms. He pointed to a room on the screen, interior decorated with shades of blue and black. Various lights shaped like stars hung down from the ceiling, and the bottom of the bed had a light under it.

“See, it’s only ¥20,000. It’s our wedding night, isn’t it? Let’s splurge for once.” He nipped at Tachi’s neck, holding him up as he melted under his touch.

Taichi made a strangled noise, biting on his lower lip. He nodded, breathlessly agreeing, “Okay, yeah. Let’s do that. Just take me to bed _now._ ”

Selection made, Omi and Taichi made their way down the isolated hallways to get to their room. Omi pressed the key card up to the lock, which greeted them with a chirping noise before unlocking.

Taichi reached around him to push the door open, before dropping his messenger bag in the entryway. He looked up at Omi expectantly, “Well?”

“‘Well?’”

He huffed, bumping into him. “Isn’t the husband supposed to carry his beautiful bride across the threshold when they get married?”

“I don’t know. Do you think you can pick me up? I’m kind of heavy.”

“Omi-kun!”

Omi barked out a laugh before dropping his own bag onto the floor. He reached down, scooping up Taichi, one arm supporting his shoulders while the other tucked under his knees. “Watch your head, alright? The doorway is kind of narrow.”

Taichi grinned up at him, snickering and wrapping his arms around Omi’s neck. “I know, you’ve got me.”

He stepped into the room, toeing off his shoes while Taichi wiggled in his arms to kick off his own. He stepped up into the room. “Here we go.”

“Here we go.” Taichi leaned forward, pressing his lips to Omi’s as his fingers scratched at the short hairs on the back of his head. He dragged his tongue along the seam, sighing when Omi opened up for him.

Luckily, the distance between the entrance and the bed was relatively short, and Omi managed to make it there without stumbling over his own feet. He gently dropped Taichi onto the bed before lowering himself down to kneel on the floor so they could return to kissing. He pulled away again, placing featherlight ones from down Taichi’s forehead to the bridge of his nose. His hands dropped onto Taichi’s knees, gently stroking over them. “Was that everything you’d ever dreamed of, _Fushimi-san_?”

“Not really…” A dusting of light pink spread across Taichi’s cheeks. He reached over to unzip Omi’s jacket, pushing it past his shoulders. “I got everything I wanted earlier today. That was just a bonus.”

Omi leaned back, taking his jacket off the rest of the way. He brought his own hands to the hem of Taichi’s sweatshirt, pulling it over his head. He tossed the article of clothing off to the side and let his free hands travel up Taichi’s t-shirt. Only a few minutes inside, away from the late-winter chill, was enough to warm his skin to the touch, although Omi would readily admit that he had contributed to that. He traced his thumbs along Taichi’s hip bones. “Yeah, I think I can say the same thing.”

“And now, I get to spend the entire night with my _husband._ This day just keeps getting better and better.”

“Do you think you’re ever going to get tired of saying that?”

“Nope! You’ll just have to deal with it.”

“Oh no, what a burden – I guess I’ll have to.” He placed another peck on Taichi’s lips before pulling away completely. He stood up and straightened himself out. “Why don’t you shower first? I’ll unpack.”

“Not really much to unpack, but…” – Taichi shrugged, before standing up as well – “I’ll be quick, don’t run off on me!”

Just as Taichi had said, there really wasn’t much of anything to unpack since they were only staying the night. Their change of clothes, only brought along because they were expected to look presentable at dinner the next day, would be staying in their respective bags. Omi moved those bags out of the doorway and into the sitting area before unzipping his backpack to pull out the two bags they’d gotten at the convenience store. He dumped the contents of the first one out on the table, mostly snacks and drinks, in case they got too ahead of themselves and missed the chance to order food. The second bag was placed on the nightstand next to the bed.

Once everything was in its proper place, he started fiddling with the control panel above the bed. With a few button presses, he was able to switch the harsh general lighting of the room and to the soft ambient ones that hung down from the ceiling. Another one turned the light under the bed on. All in all, his preparations had only taken a few minutes and Taichi was still in the shower.

It was almost as if Omi had planned it that way. He only felt a little guilty as he pulled his clothes off and threw them onto the floor. The guilt dissipated completely when he opened the door to the bathroom.

Taichi sat under the spray of the shower, rinsing out the hotel provided conditioner out of his hair. He probably couldn’t hear the sound of Omi coming up and kneeling behind him over the noise, but he certainly did notice when Omi grabbed at his waist and pressed into his back. “You could have just told me you wanted to join me.”

“I could have,” Omi agreed, lowering his head enough to kiss at Taichi’s neck. He traced one of his hands down Taichi’s abdomen to in between his legs, gently encircling his cock, but not quite stroking it, choosing to lazily trace his thumb over the slit. “But where’s the fun in that? I had to get everything set up anyway.”

He smirked when Taichi sighed and craned his head to the side, giving him better access to his most sensitive spots. He scraped his teeth along the muscle there, careful not to leave marks despite the twisting desire in his gut. There was nothing more he wanted than to leave Taichi covered in those little bites and scratches that said he was Omi’s.

Maybe he would later, he told himself. Somewhere where nobody else could see, but where they would both know. Just thinking of it was enough to send shivers down his spine. He moved his hand away when Taichi tried to thrust into his fist, tutting as he ran his hands back up to twist and tug at his nipples.

“Not yet,” he chided. “It’s been a while. I want to make sure you’re ready.”

“Omi-kun, I’ll be fine.” Taichi’s mouth dropped open, letting out a soft whine as Omi teased him more, scraping his nails over the tips as they stiffened.

“Better to be safe than sorry. Especially with everything I have planned for you tonight.”

“M-maybe I have my o-own plans. Maybe I’ve…I’ve been—” Taichi’s voice hitched with a moan and he shifted on the stool as he tried to regain his composure. He spread his legs, bracing his feet against the floor as his hips rolled up at nothing. From over his shoulder, Omi could see that he was already half-hard.

“You’ve been what?”

“Getting ready for you…”

Omi stifled a noise in the back of his throat, as the image played out in his head. Logically, he knew there hadn’t been enough time for that, but he wanted to press. “Have you? Let me see then.” He dropped his hands, patting at Taichi’s backside. “Stand up and brace yourself against the wall.”

Shakily, Taichi stood up, making room for Omi to take his place on the shower stool. He braced his arms against the wall of the shower and leaned forward. The spray of the shower trailed down his neck and shoulders, droplets sliding down the expanse of skin. He tucked his head into the inside of his elbow to hide his face.

From his new position, Omi had almost complete access. He placed his hands on each side of Taichi’s ass, gently spreading it apart. He held it there for a while, waiting for Taichi to squirm and ask him to keep going. He chuckled, placing a light kiss on the base of Taichi’s spine, before moving farther down and gliding the flat of his tongue all the way up the crease. He did it a second time when Taichi reacted, making it a point to go slower. He traced along the hole, careful not to push in before pulling away.

He reached over to the small basket of toiletries sitting on the floor. Mentally, he thanked Taichi for moving it there when he used the provided shampoo and conditioner on his hair. He searched through the small bottles, finding an unopened watermelon-flavored lubricant.

“Hm, it doesn’t look like you got ready at all…” He smirked, peeling off the plastic and flicking open the top before pouring it down the small of Taichi’s back. “It’s okay, I’ll take care of it for you.”

Taichi let out a sharp noise as the thick liquid streamed down his ass. He pressed further onto the wall, biting down on his arm as Omi spread him apart and pushed a finger inside. “Omi-kun,” he choked out, pulling away and looking back. “ _Please_.”

“‘Please’ what?” Omi pumped his finger in and out, sliding in a second and then hooking them to rub against Taichi’s prostate.

“Please…” he swallowed and rocked his hips back. “Please eat me out.”

Satisfied, Omi took his fingers out and moved his hand to rest on Taichi’s stomach. He leaned in, lapping at Taichi’s hole before letting his tongue slip inside. He hummed as Taichi shivered and shook against him, moving more insistently as the noises increased in volume.

“You like that, Taichi?” He implied more than he asked, lowering his hand to wrap around Taichi’s cock. He pumped at it, placing a soft kiss before going back to licking and occasionally stopping to whisper soft praises.

Taichi moaned with each motion, legs shaking as he held himself up. He reached behind holding Omi’s head in place as his voice tightened and grew more strained.

“Omi-kun…O-Omi-kun,” he panted, knees buckling. “Omi—” His body seized up, going pin straight before cumming into Omi’s fist. His hand dropped and he sagged against the shower wall.

Omi pulled away and guided Taichi to sit in his lap, a precautionary measure to make sure he wouldn’t slip and fall. He nuzzled at Taichi’s neck, stroking hands over his skin as he started to calm down. He kissed the back of his neck. “Good?”

“So good…” Taichi nodded, grabbing Omi’s hand to kiss the back of it. He leaned back, rubbing against Omi’s erection. “Do you want me to—”

He groaned, before pushing Taichi away. “Not here, as good as that sounds. You should go dry off; I want to brush my teeth before we keep going.”

With a pout, Taichi agreed. He stood up and placed a kiss on the top of Omi’s head, reminding him not to take too long before leaving the bathroom.

Omi didn’t waste much time from there. He cleaned up as best as he could, taking extra care as he scrubbed at his teeth. When he stepped back into the bedroom, Taichi was sitting at the head of the bed, waiting for him. Omi made his way over, crawling up to join him. He straddled Taichi’s hips and cradled jaw in his hand, leaning down to kiss him. “Your hair’s still damp…” he noted before kissing him again.

“It’s fine,” Taichi replied between kisses, wrapping his arms around Omi’s waist. “I’ll dry it better later.”

“You’ll get sick. Let me dry it for you.”

“I told you, it’s fine.”

“Taichi – ow!” Omi pulled away as Taichi nipped at his bottom lip. It didn’t hurt too bad, and it hadn’t broken the skin, but it was enough to take him by surprise. The distraction from that was enough for Taichi to flip them over, pulling the blanket over their heads with him.

“Is that good enough for you, Omi-kun?” He huffed, before snickering and placing a kiss on the tip of Omi’s nose.

“Mm…I guess it’s fine.” He pushed two fingers inside Taichi, raising his eyebrows when they went in easily. “Did you…?”

“I didn’t want to wait. Yours are bigger though.” Taichi rocked back experimentally and sighed when Omi pulled his fingers out. He scooched into a better position, reaching down to guide Omi inside. His features scrunched up as he started to lower himself down.

Omi gently grabbed his hips, holding him still. “I could give you more prep, if you need it.” A couple of months had passed since the last time they had had full, penetrative sex. Between plays, school events, and exams, there hadn’t been much time to do more than fool around in their dorm room. It would take a lot of self-control, but he could slow down.

Taichi, however, shook his head, properly sitting up with the blanket still covering the top of his head. He placed his hand on Omi’s chest for leverage. “No,” he insisted, adjusting himself. “I can do it.”

Slowly, slowly, he lowered himself down on Omi’s cock. When he finally bottomed out, his eyes fluttered shut and his breath came out in short bursts. Amongst the hanging lights of the room, Taichi looked almost ethereal – like an angel sent just to drag Omi out of his deepest worries.

He swallowed, tightening his hold as he rolled his hips up. “You’re beautiful…” he whispered, building up a steady rhythm and meeting halfway as Taichi lifted himself up and sank back down. Everything else he wanted to say, from how happy he was to how much he looked forward to spending the rest of his life with Taichi, died on his tongue.

Part of him wondered if he was going to just wake up and suddenly find himself back in the dorms, that the whole day had just been one really good dream. Or, even worse, that he was going to wake up in the hospital – jaw wrecked and wired shut, only to realize that the past few years had never happened at all. After all, why would the universe bless him with someone like Taichi after everything he had done? Life really couldn’t be that fair.

So, he let his hands wander – confirming that everything _was_ real, right down to the sheen of sweat gathering between the two of them. He scraped his fingernails over Taichi’s legs, light enough not to leave marks. Trailed his palms over his sides and stomach, kneaded at his chest, touched him in the most intimate of ways. _Anything_ that would make Taichi melt and frantically try to reciprocate.

Omi placed his hand on the back of Taichi’s neck, letting the blanket finally fall out of the way. “Are you close?”

Taichi nodded, screwing his eyes shut. “I want to do it together, Omi...”

He nodded back, pulling Taichi down into a kiss. With his free hand, he gripped the back of Taichi’s leg, thrusting in as he felt Taichi tighten around him. He held them in place as he emptied inside of Taichi, grinding his hips as the last aftershocks of his orgasm washed over him.

Panting, Taichi pulled away before lowering his head to mouth at Omi’s neck. He repeated Omi’s name over and over, dropping the honorific while his mind must have tried to pull itself back together.

When the world finally seemed to return to normal, Omi pulled out and rolled them over. He carded his fingers through Taichi’s hair, still damp, from both sweat and the water from the shower. He smiled softly, tucking himself between Taichi’s legs. “So…ready to go again?”

“Like you even need to ask?”

* * *

Despite his anxiety earlier in the day, Omi had to admit that he didn’t feel the slightest bit guilty when he overheard Taichi lying to his mother over the phone.

“Yeah, we just got to the hotel a couple of minutes ago…” Taichi insisted, sitting on the couch with his feet propped up on the edge of the coffee table. After a second shower, he was dressed in the t-shirt Omi had worn under his dress shirt that day and a pair of boxer briefs, which did nothing to hide the red marks blooming inside of his thighs.

“We stopped at some Chinese restaurant for dinner…I don’t know, the name was kind of long. A lot of places were crowded and we wanted to find somewhere quiet.” He rolled his eyes. “Yes, I’ll tell you the name if Omi-kun remembers.”

Omi stifled a laugh and hoped Taichi’s mom couldn’t hear the bell to their room ringing. They had ordered dinner before hopping back in the shower, just before cut-off, and one of the employees was probably dropping it off.

“Mom, I gotta go, we want to watch a movie…I’ll see you tomorrow!” He rubbed at his face. “Yes, I’m on my best behavior…I love you too, have a good night.” Taichi griped after he shut off his phone, placing it on the arm of the couch.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say your parents were trying to stop us from consummating our marriage.”

“Then they shouldn’t have let us get married in the first place!” He folded his legs lotus style so Omi could drop the pizza box onto the table. “It’s not like they don’t know we’ve done it before. They asked me when I first told them we were going out.”

“Well, now I feel like I have to be on my guard around them even more. Still, they’re just worried about you – you’re their son after all.”

“I know, I know.” Taichi left it at that as he took a slice of pizza from Omi and bit into it.

Omi grabbed his own slice, folding it over. “Sorry it’s not the most romantic post-wedding meal.”

“Are you kidding? Who needs candlelit dinners when you can have pizza and sex? I should have married you sooner.”

“Very funny. At least we’re going to the restaurant tomorrow afternoon. And we’ll have a whole ceremony in a few months to make up for it.”

“You think everyone will have forgiven us for sneaking off by then?”

That was a thought Omi didn’t want to dwell too much on. It was already going to be a lot to tell everyone that the two of them had been dating for such a long time, except now, they would have to admit that they had eloped without a single word about it. He wasn’t sure which would be more upsetting to find out. He had a feeling Izumi and Sakyo would probably come down on him the hardest. He could handle it if it meant Taichi wouldn’t get in as much trouble, but it would still suck all the same. All he could do was hope that their friends would get over it in due time.

“I’m sure they’ll be happy for us in the long run…” Omi managed before quickly distracting himself with another slice of pizza. “This was all just the boring, civil stuff anyway. Once we save up for a real wedding it’ll be a lot more interesting and they can participate in that.” 

Taichi nodded, although it was clear that he was just as unsure about that statement. “Yeah, you’re right…” He shoved the rest of his slice in his mouth. “I kind of want to do something traditional, like at a temple.”

“Really?”

“Yeah! Don’t you think it’s so cool? Kimono, hakama, all of that. You’d look so badass too.”

“I’m not sure if ‘badass’ is a suitable look for a wedding…” Omi laughed, bumping his shoulder into Taichi’s. “Are they even going to let you drink sake? You’re just using this as an excuse to drink, aren’t you?”

“I completely forgot about that part! Omi-kun, now, we _have_ to do a traditional ceremony.”

They bounced ideas back and forth, about temples that allowed same-sex ceremonies and who they could invite, where they could hold a reception afterwards, and what _hikidemono_ they would give out. Taichi tried to figure out the logistics of putting a “just married” sign on the back of Omi’s bike. Omi didn’t reject the idea. A ceremony was still a long way away, but it just gave them time to get even more excited about it.

By the time the pizza was finished and they opened up the small cake they picked up at the convenience store, Taichi was comfortably nestled into Omi’s lap. He brought his fork up to Omi’s mouth to feed him a bite.

“You know,” he said, smiling and resting his head on Omi’s shoulder. “I don’t think anything is going to live up to tonight. I wouldn’t trade it for anything else.”

Omi smiled back, a warm feeling flooding his entire chest. “Neither would I.”

* * *

The next morning, Omi woke up to an unfamiliar weight on his legs. He tried to ignore it at first, grunting and turning his head to bury his face in the pillow. When he tried to turn over fully, he was held down in place.

“Omi, hold still for a minute,” Taichi muttered. It was still weird to hear his name without the honorific attached, and the struggle his mind went through to put the pieces together was enough to snap his mind into full attention.

“Wake me up if you want to do stuff, Taichi…”

“I’m not doing anything! Not yet at least.”

Reluctantly, Omi opened his eyes. The room was still mostly dark, since there weren’t any windows and they’d turned off most of the lights when they finally went to sleep, except for a lamp on one of the end tables. He let his eyes adjust, just enough to see Taichi straddling his legs. He had a pen cap in his mouth, with the marker it belonged to in his dominant hand and Omi’s left hand in his other.

“Are you tagging me or something?”

“Sorta, yeah…” Taichi shrugged before going back to what he had been previously doing, drawing a curved, horizontal line on Omi’s ring finger. “I got up to use the bathroom and when I came back, you basically sprawled yourself out over the whole bed. You know. Again.” Taichi stuck his tongue out at him.

Omi did the same back. Taichi complained a lot about him being a space and blanket hog. “‘Again’, he says. You act like this is something I’m doing on purpose. What time is it anyway?”

“I don’t know, around seven?”

Omi groaned again, letting his head fall back on the pillow. Still, he moved over just enough for Taichi to get off of him and lie next to him on the bed. He sat back up and lifted his hand to observe Taichi’s work. The line was a little wobbly, probably because Omi hadn’t kept perfectly still while Taichi was drawing it, but from a distance it would look like he was wearing a brown colored ring.

Taichi capped the marker and leaned against him. “Sorry I can’t give you a real one, but I hope that’ll work for now.”

“I’ll cherish it forever.” He placed a kiss to Taichi’s temple before wrapping an arm around his waist to pull him closer. “We still have a few hours before we have to check out.”

“Do you want to go back to sleep?” He tossed the marker onto the end table. With his hand free, he dropped it high onto Omi’s thigh, tracing circles there. “Because I don’t want to…”

Omi shivered at the touch. They hadn’t slept much the night before and they had a long day ahead of them, it would have been the smart thing to get a few more hours of rest. But, at the same time, they wouldn’t be able to have as much freedom to do whatever they wanted once they went home. It would be a waste, he considered, to miss the chance to be as reckless as possible. The two of them were young, energetic, and strong-willed. It wouldn’t take much to recover from a little sleep deprivation.

He rolled on top of Taichi, responding with slick, open-mouthed kisses instead of words. Maybe someday, every morning would start the same way.

* * *

He later came to regret the decision not to catch a couple of more hours of rest.

If Omi considered his wedding day to be a whirlwind of excitement, then the day after was nothing but a blur. He and Taichi had checked out late in the morning, after another round of sex, a quick nap, and a rushed breakfast of leftover convenience store snacks, followed by an even more hasty shower. They had killed the next couple of hours buying thank you gifts for each other’s families – Omi was _very_ thankful that he was going to be starting work the next week while Taichi had picked up a circular to start looking for part time jobs. Luckily, dinner was early in the evening, but he was already starting to get tired by then.

Omi’s dad had set up a reservation at a _shokudo_ owned by a family friend. It was small, but their group wasn’t that large – with only their parents and siblings. The Fushimi and Nanao families both turned out to be a high energy bunch, just enough to keep Omi from falling asleep at the table. Taichi didn’t seem to be affected by the lack of sleep at all, and it made him wonder if he really _was_ getting old.

By the time dinner ended, Omi felt completely ready to head back home and curl up in bed for the rest of the night. They had decided before leaving the hotel to tell the rest of Mankai company about their relationship the following morning. He felt like he would need all of his energy in order to do that without completely chickening out.

But then, they wound up running into Ryo on their way back from the station, who had been absolutely _elated_ to find out about the wedding. Before Omi could say much else or tell him to keep his mouth shut, Ryo was dragging them both off to an izakaya in the complete opposite direction to celebrate with the few Wolves he could gather on short notice. It was well-intentioned and nice in its own special way, but didn’t do much to help with his growing tiredness.

When the two of them finally made it home, it was already later than expected.

Omi, mildly buzzed and practically falling asleep standing up, couldn’t help but notice that the dorm was eerily silent for a Saturday night. Normally, someone would be milling around the front door or in the courtyard, but everyone seemed to be tucked away for the night. He tried not to dwell on it too much, because if they didn’t run into anyone, they didn’t have to prematurely explain why they were coming home together. He hadn’t drunk enough to bring out his old self, but there was just enough alcohol in his system to whittle away at his self-control.

Quietly, they made their way up to their room. Omi unlocked the door, letting it swing open but catching it before it could hit the wall and make noise.

For a second, they stood there, looking into the dark space. It would only take one step to walk inside and another few to return to their respective beds. Omi didn’t want that, at least, not at that moment. It was only temporary and by tomorrow morning, they could start figuring out where they would go from there. That didn’t change the fact that they had to be separate for one night.

Taichi started to walk in, stopping only when Omi grabbed his arm. “Omi?”

“This is our home, right?”

“Yeah…?”

“Well…isn’t the groom supposed to carry his bride across the threshold?”

Taichi looked up at him, blankly at first, and then with a sad smile as he finally put the pieces together. “I don’t know. Do you think I can pick you up? You’re kind of heavy.”

In any other situation, he would have laughed at that. Neither one of them seemed to be in the mood for laughing though. Omi quickly checked their surroundings, making sure they were actually alone before letting go of Taichi and stepping back to give him space. Taichi adjusted his bag, moving it from his side to his front. He put his hand on Omi’s shoulder, lifting himself up while Omi hooked his arm under his knees.

It was a little cumbersome with bags and slippers, but they made it through the doorway without any incident. Omi gently closed the door behind him with his foot before bringing Taichi across the room. They lingered there before Omi finally put him down.

Taichi reached out, taking his hands. “Omi…” his voice cracked, and he swallowed. “Omi-kun.”

Omi’s throat felt raw. He nodded, squeezing Taichi’s hands. “Just tonight.”

“Yeah. Just tonight.” He sniffled and squeezed back. “I love you.”

“You too. I love you too.” Omi resisted the urge to reach out when they let go and then again when they crawled into their beds. He reminded himself it was only temporary. Even if it didn’t do much to stop the ache in his chest when he closed his eyes. He just had to wait through one night and breakfast in the morning and then, it would be back to wedded bliss.

At least, he thought so.

* * *

The first part of the plan was to treat it like any other day. Omi got up at his usual time, ignoring the slight headache he had from drinking the night before, and put himself together for the day. He climbed up to Taichi’s bed, placing a kiss on his still-sleeping husband’s (that thought still made his heart flutter) forehead before heading down to the kitchen to make breakfast. If he kept to the same routine, he figured he would be less nervous when the time came to make their announcement.

They had both decided it would be best to wait until after everyone had eaten because, as Taichi put it ever so bluntly, “No one can be mad at you after eating your cooking, Omi.” How true _that_ was would be completely subjective. He had a feeling a few people would still be upset with them.

Much like the night before, the main lounge and kitchen were quieter than usual. Even with their different schedules, Omi could usually count on at least one or two people milling around. Izumi would be up around this time, but she was nowhere to be seen.

Halfway through cooking, Tasuku joined him in the kitchen. His posture seemed stiffer than usual, and he only relaxed a bit when he looked around to see that no one else was in the main sitting area. With a sigh, he rubbed his face and loosened his shoulders.

Omi arched an eyebrow. “Rough night…?” he tried, not entirely sure if he should even be asking.

“Something like that,” Tasuku muttered, before leaning against the kitchen island. “You got home kind of late, didn’t you? You and Nanao weren’t around when I went to bed.”

“Uh, yeah, I guess…” He kept his head down, hoping it looked like he was just focused on plating the tamagoyaki he had in the pan. “I ran into Ryo and went out drinking with a few friends before I came back.” It wasn’t really a lie, just a half-truth. “Taichi came back around the same time I did.”

“Hm…” He eyed Omi, clearly suspicious of his answer. “I guess it’s a good thing you left your bike here then, since you usually take it with you when you go home.”

“I need to do some tuning up. Brakes and all that…” Omi hoped that he wasn’t answering too quickly, but he had been rehearsing these kinds of answers in his head. “Plus, Kai keeps trying to steal it back from me, so why give him the chance? Little brothers, right?”

“Do you need any help? I could check it out if you want.”

“No, I can handle it!” He cleared his throat, “I’m weird about other people touching my bike. No offence.”

“None taken…”

Before Tasuku could press him for any further details, other people started filing in. Tsumugi had been the first, looking doubly as tight as Tasuku had been, and was quickly joined by Tenma, Banri, and Sakuya in the same state. Slowly but surely, everyone else seemed to find their way to the kitchen in various states of emotion. Azami seemed particularly irritated while Kumon just looked anxious.

Taichi popped his head into the kitchen, flashing him a large grin. “Good morning, Omi!” His eyes widened as he almost immediately caught himself. “Omi- _kun_! Good morning, Omi-kun.”

Banri snickered from his place at the table, “You think because you graduated high school you can start getting overly familiar, Taichi?” 

“I just zoned out! That’s all.” His face went bright red as he scurried out of the kitchen, probably not wanting to embarrass himself further. Omi felt a little guilty about it, since he had told Taichi the day before that he didn’t need to use an honorific anymore. Even he had to admit it was a big change without context.

Soon, the dining room was completely full. Sakyo and Izumi still hadn’t shown up, but Omi assumed they were having a meeting and would turn up eventually. Sure enough, just as he finished serving the table, the two of them walked in. They weren’t alone though, Sakoda was right behind them, wheeling in a whiteboard.

Omi started to offer Sakoda a spot at the table, but was quickly silenced with a glare from Sakyo. Instead, he went to take a seat on his own. He leaned over to whisper at Banri, “Did I miss something?”

“Azami and Kumon finally copped up to the fact they’ve been dating last night,” he answered back, grumbling under his breath. “Sakyo-san flipped a shit and said we have to have this stupid meeting. I should have sent you a text about it, sorry.”

“Why would he–?”

“Stop your chattering and pay attention,” Sakyo cut in, interrupting any conversation that was happening at the table. He crossed his arms and furrowed his brow, standing silently until everyone directed their focus on him. “We need to have a serious talk about interpersonal relationships in this company. It’s something we should have addressed when it started coming up, but we’ve been letting it slide for too long.”

Izumi cleared her throat, “What Sakyo-san _means_ to say is – we’re very happy that a number of you have pursued relationships. It’s something that we never would have expected. However, we need to start taking into consideration how this affects the company’s image and workflow.”

“The past few years, we have gotten involved in far too many petty arguments.” Sakyo directed his attention at Tsumugi and Tasuku, who ducked their heads.

“Overt displays of public affection.” That must have been directed at Sakuya and Chikage. While Sakuya looked rightfully embarrassed, Chikage just smirked and shrugged – clearly showing that he didn’t really care. “And things that are just simply inappropriate.”

Azami stood up, slamming his hands on the table. “What do you _mean_ ‘inappropriate’?! That doesn’t even make any damn sense, you lousy coward.” He shook off Kumon’s arm when he tried to pull him back down.

“Just because you don’t have the guts to say anything doesn’t mean you can take it out on us. Maybe grow some balls and–” he cut himself off when Kumon finally pulled him back into his chair, shushing him, and muttering something about getting into even worse trouble.

Izumi looked over at Sakyo. “What does he mean by—”

“Shut your mouth, brat! We’ll talk about this later. I’m not saying anybody else here has to end their relationship.” Sakyo pinched the bridge of his nose under his glasses. “Look, this is a private space. I can’t say much about what you do here, I’m not your parent. But you need to respect that there _are_ people that are here to work, and if proper precautions aren’t taken – it can affect Mankai as a whole. You all need to be more discerning about how you act in public before doing anything drastic.”

A dirty voice popped up in Omi’s head, _“Drastic like eloping with your underage boyfriend_. _Your underage boyfriend that you’ve been banging in secret this whole time._ ” His stomach dropped out and his head grew dizzy. If Sakyo was this upset over dating, then how was he going to react when they let him know about yesterday? He looked over at Taichi, who was as pale as a set of fresh white sheets.

“That being said,” Sakyo continued, signaling for Sakoda to flip the white board onto its other side. It was covered in writing, but Omi’s vision was blurring in and out, so he couldn’t read it. “We’re going to be instituting a new set of rules regarding PDA and other matters from hereon out. I expect you all to pay attention.”

Whatever Sakyo was trying to explain didn’t reach Omi’s ears, let alone commit to his memory. There was no way they could come clean now, and they probably wouldn’t be able to for a while. Not only that, but they would have to go through extra hoops to make sure no one would notice the change in their relationship. Just thinking about it made him feel sick to his stomach.

He only picked at his breakfast, but nobody seemed like they were in the mood to eat much after the meeting, so it went unnoticed. Even rehearsal in the afternoon felt strained, and he was glad they didn’t have to do any street acts that day. There was no way he would have been able to stay in character for any length of time with the number of worries building up in his head.

It was early evening before he got to speak with Taichi, who pulled him into their dorm room with a renewed sense of panic. “Omi,” he managed, voice cracking and strained. “What are we going to do?”

“I don’t know…” he answered honestly. He wanted to have something reassuring to say, but he couldn’t seem to find the right words all afternoon.

“It’s not fair.” Taichi’s voice finally broke, tears welling up in his eyes. “This wouldn’t be happening if Sakyo-nii had the guts to say something to Izumi. He just wants everyone else to be miserable.”

As much as Omi wanted to believe that was the case, a more logical part of his brain won out. “You know that’s not true…” Sakyo might have been tough, but he wasn’t a heartless monster. Like it or not, he still had to help run the theatre like a business. Sometimes, that just meant hurting other people’s feelings along the way.

Taichi sniffled, rubbing at his eyes. “I know, but…”

“I get it.” Omi pulled Taichi into a hug, letting him bury his face in Omi’s shoulder. He rubbed at Taichi’s back and tried to swallow the lump forming in his own throat. It wouldn’t be helpful if they both started crying; it was hard to resist though. “I totally get it.”

They finally pulled apart when Taichi started to struggle to breathe through his nose. Omi took a moment to wipe the few stray tears that managed to slip through his resolve and trail down his cheeks.

“We can’t tell them now…” Taichi’s voice sounded thick, and it stabbed through Omi’s chest. “Not yet. Not until Sakyo-nii cools down.”

“Yeah, agreed. Give him something new to have a heart attack about in a couple of weeks.” He sighed and rubbed his face. “I mean, we’ve been keeping it a secret anyway, right? A little while longer can’t do much harm, right? We’ll just do what we’ve always done and hope for the best.”

“I guess…”

“It’s the only option we have.”

Even with all of that said, Omi still felt like his entire insides were being ripped out piece-by-piece. He had honestly hoped that getting married would mean the end of having to sneak around and hide their relationship. If they had to put up with it for a while longer, though, he would just have to deal with it. There was nothing more he could do.

He dropped his hands back down, crossing his arms as he tried to wrack his brain for something better to say. It was only then that he realized there was still marker on his ring finger. The color had mostly faded away, especially since he had washed his hands multiple times over the past two days, but it was just barely visible. An idea popped into his head. “Taichi, do you still have those markers?”

“Um, yeah? I just shoved them in my bag before we left the hotel, it’s not like I was going to use them once and then throw them away.”

“Grab them, I want to try something.” Omi walked over to their couch, plopping down before Taichi joined him. He took the package, pulling a red marker out and outstretching his other hand. “Give me your left hand.”

Bewildered, Taichi placed his hand in Omi’s. Realization dawned on his face as Omi started to draw a line over his ring finger. “Oh!”

“I can’t say nobody’s going to notice. But, if they ask…” Omi colored in the makeshift ring, taking care not to press down too hard lest it bleed out of its outline. “Either way, this is for us. So we can always know how important we are to each other.”

“That’s so cool.” Taichi laughed, taking his hand away when Omi was finished. He pulled the brown marker out of the pack, refreshing the mark he had previously left on Omi’s skin. “It’s a secret between me and you.”

“Just for now…” He laced their fingers together when Taichi finished drawing. He pulled him close letting Taichi rest his full weight on Omi’s chest. “I believe in us. We’ll make it through.”

Taichi hummed, tangling their legs together. “We better, or the Great Curry War might actually become a real thing.”

* * *

Even with all their anxiety, or maybe because of it, the next few weeks went easier than planned. It was hard to worry about things like hiding a secret marriage when both parties were too caught up in more pressing matters to think about it much.

Omi started his job at the photo studio, which turned out to be less traditional than a usual nine-to-five kind of job. While his schedule was mostly set, there were plenty of times when he had to go in, stay later, or clock out early because there wasn’t enough planned for the second half of the day. He had to learn to adjust his new schedule around his chores at the dorm, street performances, and rehearsal – which was exhausting, to say the least.

At the same time, Taichi started university and doing part-time work whenever he could fit it in. He was determined to contribute what he could to their upcoming expenses and didn’t seem like he could be swayed. He managed to pull it off, better than Omi could, but it still meant that they couldn’t spend as much time alone together as they had previously. The time conflict left them to just quick pecks in the morning or stolen moments before Omi inevitably passed out from adulthood induced exhaustion.

He hoped that once they stopped hiding, it would get a lot easier.

Unfortunately for them, the opportunity to come clean didn’t seem to pop up. Sakyo was still on edge and had taken to making it well-known with passive-aggressive throat-clearing noises when there was too much PDA happening in the common areas of the dorm. Azami had seemed to take that as the first blow in a war of attrition and ramped up the number of times he would grab Kumon’s hand and make a big deal about how much he _loved_ spending time with his _boyfriend_ , even as his face went bright red and he stumbled over his words. Chikage also seemed to take a lot of glee in this and took his own measures with Sakuya, who tried to be good but was still easily swayed. It made things _incredibly_ awkward for them to even approach the subject, even if it was kind of funny.

Weeks slowly turned into a month, and then a month turned into two. Any longer and Omi was sure his resolve was going to crack.

“You’re needy tonight,” Taichi joked, tangling their legs together as they laid on Omi’s bed. His cheeks were dusted light pink and he panted as Omi kissed at his neck and reached under his t-shirt.

“Something wrong with that?” Omi slid his palms over Taichi’s stomach, lifting his shirt above his waist.

“Absolutely not.” He reached down, pulling Omi closer by the waistband of his pants. “I missed you.”

“Even if you see me everyday?”

“Makes me miss you more.” He leaned up into another kiss, guiding his tongue into Omi’s mouth and moaning softly as they rocked against each other.

He could feel how hard Taichi was against his thigh and started trying to plan it out in his head. The two of them could be quick if they really wanted to. As long as they kept kissing, no one would hear a sound and they could go about their business without anyone being any the wiser. They hadn’t had the chance to do anything more than kiss since their wedding night and—

Omi pulled away, bringing his hand up to cover his mouth as he let out an unintentional yawn. “Sorry…” he apologized.

Taichi frowned, but shrugged and kissed the bridge of his nose. “You _did_ work hard today. Maybe you should turn in early for the night.”

“I’m fine, I don’t have to go in until late tomorrow.” It was hard to convince himself of that fact as he yawned a second time. The whole day was finally catching up with him. He scrunched up his face and apologized again while Taichi gently guided him to lie down on his back. He resisted the urge to reach out as Taichi climbed down the ladder, already ready to beg him to stay a little while longer.

To his surprise, though, Taichi tossed an extra pillow and a blanket over from his bed. The pillow hit Omi square in the chest and he didn’t have much time to wiggle over before Tacihi climbed over the railing to join him.

“Uh…?”

Taichi smiled at him, adjusting his pillow so that it was nestled against Omi’s. “I don’t have class the first two periods tomorrow, so I can sleep in for a while too. I think I’ll share a bed with my _husband_ , tonight.” He laid down in the crook of Omi’s arm, spreading the second blanket over himself. “Don’t steal this one too, alright? I brought it over so I won’t freeze to death when you take the other one.

“Only if you promise not to start kicking me in your sleep.”

“Me? I _never_ do that; I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He leaned in, gently nibbling on Omi’s bottom lip as they kissed before pulling away. He placed his hand on Omi’s cheek, thumb gently tracing over his cheekbone. “Okay, seriously. Get your butt to sleep. I’m already seeing dark circles under your eyes and Azami is going to flip if he sees them too.”

Omi chuckled at that, pressing one more kiss before nodding. “Fine, fine.” He pulled Taichi closer, mumbling a goodnight into his hair before shutting his eyes.

* * *

He must have fallen asleep faster than he had in a long time, because before he knew it, he was woken up to the sound of someone banging on his bedroom door. He groaned, pulling his blanket over his head in a futile attempt to drown out the noise.

Next to him, Taichi let out a frustrated grunt, mumbling something that sounded like “Go away, Ten-chan…” as he smushed his face into his pillow.

Even though there was a door between them, Tenma’s voice came in loud and clear as he continued to knock. “Hey! Taichi! Open up, don’t ignore me.”

Taichi grumbled. “Maybe if we ignore him, he’ll go away.” He pressed his face in further.

“I thought you said you didn’t have class this morning…”

“I don’t, but Ten-chan does. He’s afraid his club members are gonna ambush him every morning, so he drags me along when I don’t have to come in.”

The banging persisted in Omi’s head, even though he was sure that it had stopped at some point. He figured at first that Tenma had finally given up and left, but then the banging became rattling as he tried to open the door.

Omi tried to wake himself up enough to remember if either of them locked it the night before, but try as he might, his sleep-addled brain couldn’t keep up. Next to him, Taichi jolted up – probably wondering the same thing. He tossed his pillow onto the other bed, scrambling to climb over the railing as his legs got tangled in both of their blankets.

“Shit! Shit!” Taichi whispered as he tried to untangle himself, almost falling off the bed as he did so. He accidentally kicked into Omi’s neck, and shot him an apologetic look as he barely managed to make it onto his own bed just as Tenma opened their door.

The bright light from the courtyard burned Omi’s eyes, and he covered his face with his hand. All the shuffling around had pulled away his blanket cocoon and he could feel any chance of getting back to sleep slipping through his fingers.

Tenma scowled, looking between the two of them while still managing not to put two-and-two together. “You’re _still_ asleep? You’re going to make me late for class.”

“Ten-chan! You woke Omi-kun up. He was going to sleep in today.”

“Oh,” – Tenma looked up at him – “Sorry, Omi-san.”

Omi just groaned back, awake or not, it was still too early for words.

Taichi leaned over the edge of the bed, rubbing his face. “Why can’t you just go by yourself? If you don’t want to hang out with them, just tell them already.”

“And risk getting **_cursed_**? No. Nuh-uh. Not happening. Hurry up and get dressed, okay? I’ll see if I can get us a ride to campus.” With just as much bluster as how he came in, Tenma left their bedroom, shutting the door behind him.

“Unbelievable…” Taichi sighed. He crawled over, kissing Omi’s forehead. “Sorry for kicking you, are you okay?”

“I’m never going to get a full night of rest again.”

“Don’t say that, you have to pass out eventually. I was looking forward to spending all morning with you.”

“Yeah, same here.”

“We can’t keep doing this. I’m going to explode if I don’t get my recommended dose of Omi Time.”

Omi couldn’t help but agree, it was all too obvious that neither one of them was going to be happy if they didn’t get at least a few chances to act like a couple. What was the saying? Happy Life, Happy Wife? He figured maybe they were both the “wife” in situation, it just didn’t flow as well.

“How about a date night? My co-workers wanted to do a drinking party on Friday, but I’d be happy to skip out on it if it means we could grab dinner somewhere.”

“Are you sure, won’t that affect your relationship with your co-workers? I don’t want to put you in a bad spot.”

“They already know I’m married, and that my partner is still a student. I’m sure they’ll understand.”

Taichi thought about it for a moment before nodding his head, flashing one of his big grins. “Sounds like a plan then. Why don’t we go to that place near O High for dinner? I think it’s far enough that we won’t get noticed.”

“That’s close enough to work, I think I can pull it off.” He reached his hand out, touching Taichi’s cheek. “You better get ready before Tenma comes busting in here again.”

He placed his hand over Omi’s. “Got it! I’m going to try to be quiet so you can get back to sleep.” He turned his head, placing a kiss on the palm before pulling away to climb off his own bed.

* * *

The promise of going out on Friday night was enough to pull Omi through the rest of his work week. While he loved his job and enjoyed it a lot, even he could admit that it could be a drag some days. Things like that happened when you made your hobby a career, and he was beginning to understand that. Having something to look forward to made it easier.

“You sure we can’t convince you to come along?” His co-worker gently prodded, more in a joking matter than anything serious. They were cleaning up after their last session, sweeping up floors and putting equipment away. “We could always add an extra seat at the table too.”

“As much as I would like to take you up on the offer, my partner can’t drink.” He smiled, a warm and fuzzy feeling radiating through his chest as he thought about it. “We haven’t had any time to ourselves in a while, so I’m going to be a little selfish tonight.”

“Mm, yeah. It must be hard since you’re living in a dormitory. Are you two planning on moving in together after the ceremony?”

Omi didn’t make any moves to correct him, just shrugging. Even though his co-workers knew about his relationship status, he still wanted to keep most of the details to himself. While he was sure most of them wouldn’t have a bad reaction if they knew he was married to another man, he didn’t want to run the risk. Everything else would also be a lot to unpack and unravel, which wasn’t the best course of action when trying to make an impression in the workplace. “We’re figuring things out as we go along. Right now we have to focus on work and school.”

“That’s rough man, hopefully you can make it through. My girlfriend and I wound up breaking up when I started working. We never got to see each other and it was just too much, so I can’t imagine how tough it is for you two. Good luck.”

He swallowed down the anxiety that came with that comment, putting on his best smile. “I’m sure everything will be fine.”

When they were finished cleaning, Omi carried the cleaning supplies to the employee area. He opened up his locker, digging out his backpack and jacket. He pulled his phone out, so he could turn it off silent, only to have a call from Taichi pop up right away. With a swipe of the screen, he answered the call.

“Hey,” he said quietly, not sure if anyone else was going to come in. “Is everything alright?”

“Omi, I have a problem,” Taichi’s voice whined through the receiver, and he clarified right away. “Nothing serious. Honest. It’s just…ugh.”

“Okay? Tell me what’s up.”

“I can’t go out tonight. Ten-chan dragged me into his stupid club thing. It’s such a stupid situation and I can’t get out of it.”

“Can’t you tell him you have plans?”

“I did! But then he started pressing to find out what they were and I couldn’t come up with a good lie.” He made a remorseful noise, “I’m sorry.”

Omi sighed. “No, no. I get it. We should have come up with a plan for if this happened.” If he was being honest, it was up to Taichi to come up with a solution for these issues, but there was no way he was going to outright say it. Another, smaller, and more logical voice in his head pointed out that they should spend time with people in their own age groups too. He couldn’t monopolize Taichi’s time just because of their relationship.

“I think they just want to get dinner, we could still do something at home. I’m so sorry, Omi.”

“Please don’t apologize. Have fun tonight, okay? LIME me when you can.”

“Okay…I love you.”

As much as he wanted to stay mad, Omi couldn’t bear not to say it back. “I love you too. Stay safe and text me when you can.” He hung up the call and grumbled, closing the locker door and gently slamming his head on it. He corrected himself when his co-workers filtered in, getting ready to gather their own things and head off to their drinking party.

He wound up tagging along with them because there really wasn’t much else he had planned without his date. Thankfully, his co-workers and boss sympathized with him enough to not ask too many questions. And for all intents and purposes, he still managed to have fun.

Taichi sent him a LIME message early on, with a picture of a conveyor belt holding various plates of sushi. Underneath he captioned,

 **ななおたいち:** _We should go here sometime. My treat._  
**_19:55_**

Omi sent a message back, turning off his screen when he was done. He didn’t turn it back on again until he was leaving – surprised to see that there were no messages waiting for him. With a huff, he sent Taichi another message on LIME.

 **伏見臣:** _I’m heading home now. I’ll be back soon.  
**20:33**_

He made it back to the dorm in a little under half an hour after leaving the izakaya. The lights to the bedroom were still off when he opened the door and there was no indication that Taichi had stopped by at any point. So, he sent another message – letting him know that he was home safely.

An hour passed by with no response, not even a read receipt on either message. Annoyance bubbled in the pit of Omi’s stomach. He didn’t want to be too clingy or annoying, but he at least expected some kind of acknowledgement or response. He sent one more message, asking if Taichi knew what time he was going to be coming back.

Another half hour passed and nothing came through. The annoyance began to fade, twisting into worry. A few bad scenarios ran through his head – maybe something had happened. What if Taichi had gotten hurt on his way home or something else had happened? He debated sending Tenma a message. But then, he would have to explain why he was so insistent on getting ahold of Taichi, wouldn’t he? Even worse, what if something had happened to Taichi _and_ Tenma?

He stewed over it for five minutes when suddenly, his phone started vibrating in his hands. He looked down and saw a bunch of messages in short succession.

 **ななおたいち:** _These guys are nice. I don’t see why Ten-chan is so scared of them. **  
**_**ななおたいち:** _Apparently we’re going back to the school?? Also my other message isn’t going through for some reason. The restaurant had no service._  
**_22:45_**  
**ななおたいち:** _OH MY GOD, I’M SO SORRY. Everything just came through now and none of my stuff sent  
_**ななおたいち** : _I’m coming home right now. Tonight got so bad so fast. I’m never doing this again.  
**22:46**_

The tension in Omi’s shoulders and gut slowly started to unravel as he read through the messages. He was still annoyed, but hopeful, that Taichi’s explanation would clear everything up.

Within half an hour from receiving the last message, Taichi was back in the dorm room. His shoulders were slumped and his eyes were red-rimmed. “Omi…” he started, stuffed up and hoarse. He wiped at his eyes with his sleeve. “I’m so sorry, Omi.”

A new sense of dread overtook anything else he was feeling and Omi scrambled to get up from the couch. He placed both of his hands on Taichi’s arms, gently holding him. “What happened? Is everything alright?”

Taichi sniffled again, but shook his head. “Ten-chan knows, Omi. I had to tell him. I didn’t have a choice.” He opened his mouth to say something else, but let out a shaky breath instead.

Omi wondered if he was going to cry again, but Taichi just lifted his hand and shook his head as he tried to regulate his breathing. “He didn’t say anything bad, it’s not that. I mean, he’s kind of pissed off, but I think that’s just because I dropped it on him suddenly. He’s not going to come in here and start a fight or tell anyone else. But, it’s just like…I told him. I actually told someone.”

In a way, Omi understood what he meant. The two of them walked back to the couch, settling in so Taichi could better explain what had happened.

* * *

Taichi looked down at his phone as his last lecture for the day ended, mentally trying to calculate if he had time to head back to the dormitory and drop his things off before meeting up with Omi. He had only a handful of classes that day, but the idea of dragging his backpack around on their date felt incredibly childish for some reason. He knew Omi wouldn’t mind and it was a silly thing to be worried about, but it would make _him_ feel better not to worry about it.

After some deliberation on his way out of the building, he ultimately decided it would be a good idea. He would just make it if he crunched for time. So, he took a shortcut through campus instead of his usual route.

That had been mistake number one.

From a couple of feet away, he spotted Tenma with a senpai from his club. No one was exactly sure how or why Tenma became a member of the Occult Club. He and Juza had tried to pull the answer out of him, but Tenma, in the most Tenma-like way refused to answer. They assumed he had wandered into the club room by accident and stubbornly stuck around, just so he wouldn’t have to admit that he made a mistake. Yuki laughed for an hour straight when he found out. It made sense why Tenma would do whatever he could so minimize his humiliation.

The only problem was, though, that Tenma’s stubbornness was starting to affect Taichi’s life. Instead of just putting on his big kid pants and quitting, he would do whatever he could to avoid being alone with them. This included making Taichi come to school or head back home with him whenever possible. It was completely ridiculous. Tenma was treating a small group of goth kids and chuunibyou like they were going to jump him at any second.

He was going to turn around and walk the other way to avoid them, not wanting to get involved in whatever conversation was happening between them. But his body acted faster than his mind, and he just kept walking. His eyes met Tenma’s and the world grinded down to a halt as he was desperately waved over.

Taichi considered sprinting away, but then figured Tenma would chew him out back home if he did. With great reluctance, he walked over to the small group, set to explain that he was in a hurry and couldn’t keep talking. Before he could do that, Tenma threw an arm around his shoulders.

“Yeah, you see – I can’t go out tonight. Taichi and I were going to hang out today, maybe practice some street acts,” Tenma lied through his teeth. “We haven’t had a lot of time to practice since classes started. I’m feeling rusty.”

The senpai, who looked like he was better suited for a visual kei band than a college campus, waved his hand. Taichi couldn’t remember what his name was no matter how he tried. “Oh, that’s okay! Taichi-kun can join us. The more the merrier.”

“Uh, well…about that—”

“Even if he’s not an official member, all are welcome to take part in the ceremony. No ifs, ands, or buts.” The senpai clapped his hand on Tenma’s shoulder, flashing a big grin. “Let’s meet at the front gates in half an hour okay? It will be a night of grandeur and companionship!” He pulled back with a flourish, jogging away – presumably to gather the rest of the group.

Tenma dropped his hand, color drained from his face. “Damn, I thought that would work.”

Taichi huffed. “Ten-chan! I have _plans_. If you don’t want to hang out with them, you better let them know right now because I’m not coming along.”

“What do you mean you have plans? You’re going to leave me hanging like this? I don’t even know what they’re talking about with that ceremony shit.”

“I don’t care! I’m not your babysitter.”

“Well what are these ‘plans’ that are so important to leave your best friend behind in his time of need?”

That was mistake number two – Taichi realized he didn’t have a lie prepared for if he was pressed for details. He froze on the spot, seconds passing as Tenma stared him down. He ran through every possibility in his head, realizing that no matter what he tried to say, Tenma would just ask for more details. He ran a hand over his face, defeated. “You owe me. Big. Bigger than you even realize.”

There were about six of them in total for the outing. The senpai, a senior who called himself Yoru, two juniors that seemed to be a couple, and a girl from their year – Amane.

At first, the night had started relatively normal. They went to a conveyor belt sushi restaurant a short walk away from the campus and while it was a little more money than Taichi had wanted to spend, he had to admit the food was worth it. The conversation was lighthearted and fun, and he got along well with Amane. They shared a couple of classes, but hadn’t interacted one-on-one, so it was nice to make a new friend. Taichi decided Tenma was definitely being a big baby about everything. Creepy hobbies or not, there was nothing wrong with the Occult Club.

Mistake number three.

After they finished eating, Taichi thought he would be able to duck out. Maybe, he thought, he could use an excuse about having a part time job the next day and wanting to go to sleep early. There was no way Tenma could argue with that, especially since it gave him an out too as they would have to go the same way. But before he could say anything, Yoru announced that they would be heading back to campus – jingling a set of keys.

And that was how Taichi found himself in one of the lesser-used buildings on Yosei’s campus. Apparently, it had been used by a few clubs and the arts programs before budget cuts meant shuffling things around. Now, it only housed a few classes and worked as a storage facility for large art installations _(Omi only vaguely remembered this building, recalling that he had visited a handful of times in his four years.)_.

The six of them snuck into a former club room on the second floor, jimmying open an old sliding door and holding their noses at the smell of mothballs and mold. One of the juniors placed his backpack down and started rummaging through it, pulling out a set of red candles and a lighter.

This started setting off flags in Taichi’s head. “Uh…what are we doing?”

“Taichi-kun,” Yoru explained, grabbing one of the chairs and sitting backwards in it, arching an eyebrow, “Do you know the _real_ reason nobody uses this building anymore?”

Before Taichi could answer, he continued – waving his hand with far too much flair. “Because it’s _haunted_. I found out from my senpai before he graduated last year. A student died, right here, in this very room. And her spirit has haunted it ever since.”

Tenma made an uncomfortable noise, pressing into Taichi like he was going to work as a glorified meat shield for this so-called ghost. Taichi had to admit, the thought of it was giving him shivers. “Seriously?” He asked, looking around the room.

“They say she committed suicide when she found out a professor she was in love with was getting married.” The junior girl added, lighting the candles her boyfriend set up.

“Really?” Amane piped up, “That’s so sad! No wonder she can’t rest in peace.”

“That’s why _we’re_ here. We’re going to her and help her come to rest.”

“I don’t want to summon any ghosts,” Tenma whined, his voice muffled as he buried his face into Taichi’s sweatshirt.

If Taichi had been in more of a mood to play along, he probably would have taken the opportunity to tease him more. “Ten-chan,” he tried, “They’re just playing with you! There’s no way we can summon a ghost.”

“I don’t know,” – Yoru leaned forward, resting his chin on folded fingers – “I can sense that Ten-kun has the gift. We’re one in the same, him and I. I get a strong psychic reading off of him.”

Tenma whined again, shaking his head. “Quit it with that chuuni shit…senpai.”

After managing to peel Tenma off of him, Taichi took a seat on the floor. He watched as Yoru and the two upperclassmen continued to set up for their ceremony, chattering and pulling Tenma along to help them out. It was amusing to watch him go back and forth between acting scared and complaining about how sloppily they were putting everything together.

Amane sat down next to him, folding her legs. “Sumeragi-kun is funny, isn’t he? I thought I was going to be the only freshman in the club, so I was excited that fate brought him here.”

Taichi hummed, not having the heart to tell her differently. “Yeah, sure, fate did that. He looks like he’s having fun, though.”

“I’m glad you came along too. I always see you sitting in front of class, so I wanted to say hi – but the chance never came up.” She smiled at him, scooting a little closer. “Your last name is Nanao, right? Do you want me to call you that?”

“Actually it’s Fushi—” he stopped himself short, clearing his throat. He had updated all of his records before classes started, but most of his professors had gotten their roll sheets before his name change went through. “My first name’s fine, don’t worry about it.”

Pink spread across Amane’s cheeks, “Oh, okay…Taichi-kun.” And then Taichi felt it. Their hands were touching.

Just a few months before, the simple action would have sent butterflies flying through his stomach. Yes, while he was in a committed relationship and would never cheat, he was still a healthy teenager that liked boys and girls. Attraction wasn’t infidelity.

This was different, though. He was married, and somewhere along the line he might have given Amane the wrong idea. As if he didn’t already feel guilty enough for cancelling their date at the last minute, this was the icing on the cake. His gut twisted, churning harder as he looked down and saw how close her fingers were to the faded marker ring on his finger. _“Cheating_ , _”_ an angry voice in his head screamed at him, _“This is cheating. You’re cheating on Omi.”_

He pulled his hand away, with way too much force than was probably necessary, and scrambled to get onto his feet. “I, uh, I need some air,” he managed, his throat dry and his mouth feeling like it was full of cotton. He powerwalked out of the room, trying to breathe through the tightening sensation forming in his chest. At some point, powerwalking turned to jogging, and then running, until he found himself in the lobby of the main building.

Taichi leaned up against the wall, sharply inhaling to catch his breath. He slid down, squatting in place and rubbing at his face. “What are you doing,” he chided himself. “Stupid. Don’t overreact like that.”

With the distance, he realized how much easier it would have been to just move his hand or quietly let Amane know he wasn’t interested. Instead, he had made a big scene.

He didn’t have time to stew over it though, as Tenma came running after him. He furrowed his eyebrows, panting as he bent down. “Taichi, what the hell? You almost ripped the door off trying to get out of there.”

“Ten-chan…” his voice cracked, and he swallowed to push it back down. “I’m the worst.”

“Dude, everyone screws up when a girl suddenly flirts with them. Amane-san’s asked about you before, so this won’t get her upset. If you go back and apologize—”

“It’s not that!”

“Then what is it?!”

“I’m already married, Tenma!” Taichi covered his mouth, eyes widening when he realized what he had just said. Try as he might, though, the words continued to spill out. His eyes stung at the corners and he blinked to make it stop. “Omi and I got married after graduation in March. We’ve been dating for a long time, and I asked him if he wanted to. So we did, but then Sakyo-nii…and—” Another choked noise escaped his throat and he felt wetness dripping down the side of his face. “No one’s supposed to know yet. Please don’t tell anyone.”

He’d gone and spilled the beans. Now it was out in the open, too far away for him to take it back.

Tenma stared at him, annoyed expression morphing into one of confusion and then stunned disbelief. “Wait… _married_?” He sunk down, hand to his chin as he tried to put the pieces together. “Married…you and Omi…wait…” His head shot up. “You two are _together_?! And _married_?!”

Taichi shushed him through a stuffy nose, “Please don’t yell.”

“I mean it’s kind of hard not to? That’s a big fucking deal, Taichi.”

“Yeah, I’m aware!”

“Holy crap…” Tenma didn’t move from his spot, rocking back and forth. “And _you_ asked _him_? You’ve got an iron set of balls.”

He reached up to wipe at his eyes. “Twice, actually. The first time was kind of a joke, but I started taking it seriously after a while and asked him again.” Taichi looked down at his hand, tracing the fingers of his right over his left ring finger. “We were going to tell you guys, but Sakyo-nii was already so pissed about Aachan and Ku-chan that it didn’t seem like a good time.”

“I can’t blame you…” Tenma bounced in place, almost as if he was considering something before shrugging. “So…you definitely can’t ask Amane-san out.”

“’Fraid not.”

He hummed, before standing back up. “I think I’m going to hang around for a while. You know, just so they don’t put a curse on the entire company because we both ditched them. What about you?”

Taichi waved his hand, “I’m going to head back. Omi and I were supposed to go out tonight before…you know. This.”

“You should have _told me_ that! Jeez, you drop this on me and then try to blame me for everything.”

“Well, it’s not like I had an option.” He laughed a little despite the lingering ache in his throat. It wasn’t even like he felt particularly sad or worried, but the overwhelming relief of making his confession was like unscrewing a pressure valve. Just the fact he had told not just _someone_ , but one of his closest and dearest friends, was parts exhilarating and terrifying. He stood up as well. “Ten-can…” he started, “You won’t tell anyone, right? You promise?”

Tenma rolled his eyes, gently smacking the top of Taichi’s head. “Consider us even now. No, in fact, I think you owe _me_ now. You don’t even know how much yet. Now get your ass home before I change my mind.”

* * *

“And then when I left the building, my phone started buzzing like crazy. I don’t know why it didn’t on the way back from the restaurant, but I sprinted to the train station once I messaged you back.” Taichi leaned into him, resting his head on Omi’s shoulder. “Sorry for making you worry like that.”

Omi wrapped an arm around his shoulders, “I’m just happy nothing bad _did_ happen. Were my messages the reason you got upset?”

“Huh? Oh, no. Everything just kind of hit me all at once on the subway. I probably made an ass of myself, but it is what it is.”

He hummed his acknowledgement, pulling Taichi closer. “So…Tenma knows.”

“Ten-chan knows. I think he’ll keep it to himself, though, unless he slips up.”

“How do you feel about it?”

“It’s kind of nice? To say it to someone else. Like, I mean, someone that matters – not just to correct my professor after class or whatever. Most of my classmates _just_ know me as Fushimi Taichi, they don’t know I was Nanao not that long ago. It feels heavy.”

“A good heavy, right?”

“Yeah! Definitely.” Taichi rested his hand on Omi’s thigh, gently squeezing it. “It makes me excited for when we can finally tell everyone else.”

Omi nodded, without saying much after that. All he could hope was that the chance came sooner, rather than later.

* * *

The following Monday afternoon, Omi’s phone buzzed with a notification from Taichi. When he swiped it open, he was shocked to see a screencap of his conversation with Amane and the caption about “fessing up”.

 **ななおたいち:** _Can I be honest about why I left?_  
**_10:22_**

 **アマネ:** _Yeah! Of course!!  
**10:22**_

 **ななおたいち:** _I skipped out on a date with my husband to go out and I felt guilty.  
**10:23**_

 **アマネ:** _What  
**10:25**_

 **ななおたいち:** _My last name is actually Fushimi. Sorry I lied_. _You can still call me Taichi!_  
**_10:25_**

At the very bottom of the screenshot, he could see the tops of their heads in a photo they had taken that weekend. He felt his face go bright red when he realized which one Taichi had sent. It wasn’t risky by any means, but it was quite affectionate.

 **ななおたいち:** _She thinks you’re hot, btw._  
**ななおたいち** : _I gotta agree._  
**_12:22_**

Taichi sent over a silly sticker and all embarrassment aside, Omi couldn’t stop himself from laughing.

* * *

It took a couple of weeks before another opportunity popped up.

Somehow, the planets had aligned just perfectly. Summer and Winter Troupes had both booked engagements that would have them out of Tokyo at the same time. While Izumi was going to go up to Miyagi with Winter Troupe for the whole week, Sakyo was going to take the reins and go with Summer Troupe for their weekend gig in Nagoya. Everyone else seemed to jump at the chance to make their own plans, leaving the dorm blissfully empty for almost three full days. Even those that were staying behind wouldn’t be back until late.

When the schedule first went up in the common area, Taichi had smirked behind his hand while giving Omi less than appropriate looks. He wiggled his eyebrows and winked, and Omi had to resist the urge to laugh or flirt back. In the days that followed, Taichi continued to tease him – quietly dropping comments about how much he was going to spoil Omi once they were alone. The anticipation both managed to make his week drag on and speed up.

Taichi had to work Friday night and Saturday morning, but by that evening they were able to enjoy some time to themselves. They met up a few blocks from Yosei University, grabbing dinner at a hole in the wall Italian restaurant they’d picked out after scrolling through an app. It was a pleasant meal, and it was nice to hold hands at the table without too many stares or questionable looks. Even when they weren’t eating or talking, it was easy to enjoy each other’s company.

Halfway home, Taichi was bold enough to pull Omi onto a side street and kiss him. He crowded Omi against a retaining wall, stretching up to press their lips together. Without really meaning to, Omi slid down and wrapped his arms around Taichi’s waist. He let his mouth drop open, sighing as Taichi gently sucked in the tip of his tongue.

When he broke away for air, Taichi didn’t hesitate – trailing kisses from the corner of his mouth, to his chin and jaw, before focusing on the pulse point of his neck.

“Omi,” he mumbled against it, vibrations sending shivers through Omi’s entire body. Taichi’s hands grabbed at his ass, squeezing it. “Omi, I’m going to make you feel _so_ good. Will you let me?”

Omi gasped, craning his neck to the side so Taichi could lean in more. He grinded his hips down into Taichi’s hands, biting his lower lip when Taichi squeezed harder. It wasn’t that he disliked bottoming, quite the opposite – he enjoyed it _too much_. Even the idea of being pressed into the mattress and letting someone else take control was enough to make his knees wobbly, so it was near impossible to do it when they were trying so hard not to get caught.

But now they had an entire night to themselves. Holding back wasn’t necessary.

He pulled Taichi closer, bringing an arm up to his shoulders to pull him into another series of kisses. “Please take care of me…” he whispered in between them, slowly melting into a hazy goo under Taichi’s ministrations.

They stumbled back into the dormitory as a tangled mess of limbs and kisses, struggling to get their shoes off as they came through the entry-way, leaning against every available surface when they couldn’t bear to let go of each other. Omi wasn’t even sure how they made it to their room, his head swimming through a vast ocean as he clung to Taichi’s clothes.

Taichi gently pushed him onto the couch, laying him flat on his back before climbing on top. His next few kisses were hard and fast, hands pushing up Omi’s shirt and only stopping to pull it over his head. He bit down on Omi’s collarbone, sucking a mark there afterwards. The skin prickled and burned. Omi knew it would be sensitive and bruised in the morning – and he didn’t care one bit.

He gasped as Taichi’s hands trailed up to his chest, pinching and pulling at his nipples, fingernails gently scrapping as they stiffened. He moaned when Taichi pressed harder, canting his hips, even though Taichi’s legs were holding them in place.

“Omi,” Taichi teased, smirking up at him. “You’re so big everywhere. I don’t know if I’m jealous or what.” He let one of his hands go flat, gently working at the pectoral muscle. His thumb dug in, rubbing small circles. “I think lugging around all that equipment is just making you bigger.”

“Y-you think?”

“Yeah. I like it.” Taichi slid down, moving his hand so he could trace the tip of his tongue around Omi’s nipple. He scraped his teeth over it, moving to soft kisses when Omi hissed. “I like all of you, though.” He continued to trail down, alternating between lips, teeth, and tongue in the spots he knew Omi was weakest. Taichi gently kissed at his navel, nosing at the trail of hair there.

Omi tried to roll his hips up, urging him to go further, only to have Taichi pull away instead. “Come on,” he whined, reaching out to bring him back down.

“Not yet,” Taichi chided, bringing his hand down to cup the bulge forming in between Omi’s legs. He pressed up, rubbing the material against his cock. “I’ve been waiting so long to do this, Omi, you don’t know how bad I’ve wanted to see you like this.” 

He nodded, tongue poking out to swipe over his suddenly dry lips. He rocked his hips down.

“Ask me nicely.”

“Taichi, please…”

“Please what, Omi?”

“I want it so bad.”

“What do you want?”

“ _Everything_!” Omi pleaded, voice rising with desperation. He grabbed Taichi’s wrist, holding it in place. “Everything, please. Suck me off. Fuck me. Anything! Just please, please – touch me.”

Taichi squeezed at him again, smiling when he took his hand away. “Whatever you want, _Omi-kun_.” He winked and pulled his shirt off, tossing it onto the floor. Next, he brought his hands to Omi’s belt, swiftly undoing it along with the button and zipper of his pants. He moved off the couch, giving Omi room to lift his hips and make it easier to slide his pants and underwear off at the same time.

His cock was already more than half hard, standing at attention once he was free from the confines of his clothes. Taichi trailed one of his fingers up the entire length, gently circling around the slit where a bead of precum had started to form. It was slick as he pulled away and Omi longed for the contact again.

“I’m going to get what we need,” Taichi told him, leaning down to press a kiss to his forehead. “Stay right there, and don’t touch yourself.”

Patiently, _obediently_ , Omi waited. His breath quickened with anticipation, mind wandering to all the things Taichi was going to do to him. He squirmed in place, debating if he should sit up so that he could see what Tacihi was doing.

Thankfully, Taichi returned in seconds – holding up two condoms and their lubricant before tossing them onto the coffee table. “I, um, don’t want to completely ruin the couch,” he explained before gently guiding Omi to sit up. He pushed the table out of the way, sinking onto his knees in between Omi’s legs.

“We could move up to the bed…”

“Maybe, maybe not.” He placed his hands on the inside of Omi’s thighs, spreading him apart. He leaned forward, placing feather-light kisses along the base of Omi’s cock before running his tongue along the seam of his testicles. “You might not be able to stand after this.” He wrapped his mouth around one, suckling before pulling away.

Omi moaned, hand grasping at the top of Taichi’s head, fingers carding through his hair. His mouth dropped open as Taichi did it again, giving way to a long keening noise as Taichi’s tongue traced along the prominent vein going up to the head of his cock.

“Taichi…” He brought his free hand up to cover his mouth.

Taichi wrapped his hand around the base. He mouthed around the length, mumbling against his skin. “No, Omi, I want to hear you. Tell me how good it feels.” His tongue swiped over the head, across the slit. He suckled at the head, looking up at Omi through his eyelashes.

“S-so…so good…” Omi shivered, pulling Taichi’s hair. “It’s so good, Taichi.”

He hollowed out his cheeks, slowly taking the entire length of Omi’s cock in his mouth. When they had first started doing this, Taichi could only get so far without gagging or having to pull off. Now he could take Omi so easily, and knew exactly how to slowly unravel him.

Taichi closed his eyes as his mouth met his fist, humming in satisfaction and sending vibrations through Omi’s body. He moved his hand out of the way, swallowing around the head of Omi’s cock when it hit the back of his throat. For a brief moment, he stayed in place – letting Omi enjoy the warm slickness of his mouth. When he pulled up, he put his hand back at the base, pumping in time as he bobbed his head.

Omi shook, feeling the muscles in his legs tighten and contract. A tingling sensation built up between his legs. He was so close. Just a little bit more and…

Just as he hit the edge of his orgasm, Taichi pulled away. He wiped the mixture of precum and saliva from his chin. “Not yet,” he commanded, turning around to grab the lube from the table. “Spread your legs more.”

Shakily, Omi complied. He grabbed the back of his own legs, spreading them apart so Taichi could have better access. His breath hitched as he watched Taichi squeeze the lube onto three of his fingers.

“It’s been longer for you,” Taichi said softly, blowing on his fingers to warm up the lube. He brought his index finger to Omi’s hole. It was still cold – but not entirely unpleasant as it circled around the muscle. “We’ll take it as slow as you want.”

Omi nodded, warmth spreading down from his cheeks to his neck and chest. He watched as Taichi gently worked a finger inside of him, closing his eyes when it breached past the resistance. Slowly, carefully, Taichi wiggled his finger to loosen him up. He pumped in and out as Omi adjusted, curling his finger with each outward stroke.

“God, you’re so handsome, Omi,” Taichi praised, pulling his finger out to the tip so he could work in a second one. He kissed the base of Omi’s cock when he hissed at the contact. “You take them so good, Omi. I only put two in and you’re already leaking…”

He gasped, rocking his hips down. It had been so long since he had fingered himself, and even longer since Taichi had done it. It burned and ached in a satisfying way as Taichi scissored his fingers to stretch him out. His whole body felt like it was on fire, and it was hard to find his voice to express exactly what he wanted. “Taichi…” he managed, strained and feverish. “I want…”

“Do you want me to suck you again?”

He nodded, choking out a cry as Taichi pressed up into his prostate. “Please, I’m so close.”

Taichi hummed, pulling his hand back to push in a third finger. He wrapped his lips around the head of Omi’s erection, sucking in time to the pumps of his fingers. Each time his tongue would catch at the ridge of the head, he would press his fingers _up_ and hold them in place while he rubbed at Omi’s prostate.

Noises tumbled out of Omi’s mouth, caught somewhere between begging and useless babbling. He dropped his legs, grabbing onto the couch and curling his fists into the material. Inside his stomach, there was a sensation of twisting and aching. He wanted to warn Taichi, and tried his best, but the only thing he could do was repeat his name in a crackling, wet voice.

His orgasm hit him all at once, all of his nerves going off on all cylinders. He shook, curling over Taichi, and thrust his hips forward. Taichi held him in place with his free hand, moaning as he swallowed everything down.

Omi fell backwards on the couch, trying to catch his breath. Tears clung in the corners of his eyes and his throat felt raw. Taichi’s fingers were still buried deep inside him, stroking through the aftershocks.

Taichi lifted his head, kissing low on Omi’s stomach. He was saying something, but Omi’s brain couldn’t put the pieces together in his haze. All he knew is that it was something affectionate, gentle praises and words of love. He pulled his fingers out, wiping the mess on the inside of Omi’s leg.

He reached out, grabbing Taichi’s shoulder. He wanted to ask for a kiss, and either he vocalized his request or Taichi could read his mind – because Taichi stood up and leaned over. Omi opened his mouth, languidly stroking his tongue against Taichi’s with the least bit of resistance. Taichi pulled away first, giving him two quick pecks when Omi tried to hold him in place.

He leaned over, scratching at the short hairs on the sides of Omi’s head. “Are you ready for me, Omi?”

Omi swallowed, managing to find his voice. “Yeah, I’m ready.”

Taichi smiled, kissing him again. He grabbed one of the condoms off the table, ripping it open with his teeth.

“I’m going to put this on you so we don’t make a mess, okay? Let me know if it’s too much.” He gently rolled the condom onto Omi’s softening cock, and even though it was a little sensitive, he didn’t complain.

He watched as Taichi pushed his own pants and underwear off, letting them fall to the floor before kicking them out of the way. Omi took the condom from him when he picked it up.

“Move closer,” he asked, grabbing the back of Taichi’s leg. “I want to get you ready.”

“You don’t have t—”

“I want to.” He ripped the condom open pulling it out of the package before placing it in his mouth. He placed both hands on the backs of Taichi’s legs, leaning forward. He carefully wrapped his mouth around the head of Taichi’s cock, sliding the condom with him as he bobbed his head down. He hadn’t done it in a long time, so he wasn’t as skilled as he once was. It still went on smoothly, though, so he considered it a success.

Taichi shivered, carding his fingers through Omi’s hair. “Oh my god, how come you’ve never done _that_ before?”

Omi hummed, pulling away. He pulled at the tip of the condom and adjusted the base, making sure it was secure. “We don’t use them normally. You’ve never asked.” He took the lube from Taichi when it was offered to him and squeezed some into the palm of his hand.

“You _have_ to show me how to do that,” Taichi praised, leaning down for a kiss as Omi stroked him.

“Maybe, maybe not.” He winked.

Laughing, Taichi stroked his jaw and kissed him again. His thumb grazed over Omi’s cheek bone. “Get on your knees and lean over the back. I’m going to make you feel _so_ good.”

Nodding, Omi got himself into position. He placed both his arms on the back of the couch, raising his ass as he leaned forward. He bit down on his lip when the head of Taichi’s dick slid against his hole, catching the rim before sliding in.

“Oh,” he moaned, closing his eyes.

“You’re still tight…” Taichi rubbed Omi’s lower back soothingly, “Just relax, it’s almost in all the way. Unless you want me to pull out and prep you some more.”

Omi shook his head. “No. Feels good.” He moaned again when Taichi bottomed out, leaning his forehead against his arm. Taichi wasn’t necessarily big, but whenever they switched positions, he always managed to hit Omi in the right places. He rocked back. “You can keep going.”

Taichi’s hands trailed from his back, down to his hips and stomach. “You don’t want to get used to it?”

“I like when you’re careful…” Omi looked over his shoulder. “But I like it when you’re rough too.”

“You’re killing me,” Taichi groaned, pulling out almost all of the way before thrusting back into Omi. He quickly found his rhythm with frantic, short motions that always managed to hit Omi’s prostate dead on.

Even if he wanted to hold back, Omi felt his self-control slip away from him. Every thrust and grind of Taichi’s hips made a new myriad of sounds fall from his mouth. He reached down to stroke his cock, thumbing at the covered head until Taichi batted his hand away.

“Just from this,” he whispered in Omi’s ear, nibbling at the shell. He pressed in all the way, holding himself in place as his hips rocked forward. “I want you to cum just from this.”

Omi groaned again, muffled by the couch cushions. “Taichi! Please!”

He bit down on Omi’s shoulder, “You can do it, Omi. Show me.”

A switch flicked in Omi’s head at that moment. His mouth dropped open with a broken, sharp noise and his back went completely straight. His ass tightened around Taichi and his cock twitched in the condom. He wasn’t sure if he ejaculated again, but his vision whited out enough that he didn’t care otherwise. Vaguely, he could feel Taichi pulsing inside of him, and he sunk his teeth into the couch cushion.

Taichi kissed the nape of his neck and his shoulders, coaxing him as he rode out their shared orgasm. When Omi stopped shaking, Taichi stayed perfectly still – not moving until Omi gave him the okay to pull out.

Body pliant and limbs close to static, he let Taichi flip him over to straddle his lap. They lazily kissed, lips sore and bruised from previous rough activities, but completely satisfied. He nuzzled into the crook of Taichi’s neck, quietly thanking him for being so attentive. They both knew they’d have to move eventually, even if they didn’t get to the shower and bath until the following morning.

Omi wanted to be spoiled for just a little while longer.

* * *

His hips ached as he lied in bed, waiting for Taichi to come back from his kitchen run. They had thankfully been able to get him up the ladder to his bunk before the muscles in the lower half of his body realized what a vigorous workout they had been through. Omi rolled onto his stomach, letting out a satisfactory hum as he buried his face into his pillow. After not having sex for months, it had been exactly the kind of stress relief he needed. He hoped that a weekend of romance would set his bodily clock back to zero and leave him refreshed for the following week of work.

The door opened and shut in rapid succession. His ladder creaked as Taichi climbed up it. “Omi,” he whispered, “are you asleep?”

“No, just trying to get comfortable.” He flipped himself over, lifting himself up with his arm to take a water bottle from Taichi. “Are we sharing the bed tonight?”

“What? Oh, yeah, of course.” He wrinkled his eyebrows, and Omi noticed that he was frowning.

“Is something wrong.”

“We have a problem. Ban-chan heard us.”

Omi almost dropped the bottle of water, and thanked his lucky stars that it wasn’t open yet. “What? He’s _here_?!”

“I ran into him in the kitchen. And…ugh.” Taichi ran a hand over his face, “He congratulated me for ‘finally making a move’ and made some other comments. He said something about winning a betting pool too. They have a _betting pool_ about us Omi!”

“Jeez…” Omi fell back, looking up at the ceiling. He tried to work through the number of problems Banri knowing about their relationship would cause, and each scenario seemed worse than the last. But the only thing he could focus on was, “And Tenma didn’t tell you anything about this?”

“I mean, knowing Ten-chan, either he didn’t know about it, he was being nice and didn’t want to tell me, or he lost and he’s pissed off about it so he kept it to himself.”

They both paused, thinking about it for a second before responding together. “It’s probably the last one.”

Omi chuckled at their shared reaction, holding the water bottle close to his chest. “Well, we could always talk to Banri about it, maybe he’ll understand.”

“That’s not the only problem.” Taichi sighed, lying down next to him. “Banri followed me back up here, and when we passed by his door, Itaru-san popped his head out.”

“You’re kidding!”

“He _winked_ at me, Omi. Now, not only do they both know, but I feel like I have to carry another big secret. I’m not sure how much more my heart can take.” He turned onto his side, wrapping an arm around Omi’s waist. “This is getting way too complicated.”

“Yeah, I have to agree.”

The two of them laid there in silence, waiting to see who would be the first to admit what they were both thinking. In the long run, three months had to be some kind of record, didn’t it? That wasn’t even including the years they had been dating and didn’t say a single word. It might have just been time to throw in the towel.

“We’ll tell them when everyone’s back home,” Omi decided. “If Sakyo gets upset, I’ll take most of the blame.”

“No, you won’t. We both will. That’s what being married is all about, isn’t it?”

Omi smiled, scooting closer to Taichi. “Yeah, you’re right.”

Taichi smiled back, kissing the tip of his nose. “I can’t wait to see the look on Ban-chan’s face when he realizes he lost. That’ll make getting torn a new one by Sakyo-nii worth it.”

“Well, who knows, maybe he won part of it. I’m curious to see what everyone’s results are. Wouldn’t it be hilarious if someone like Misumi or Guy won?”

“I bet it’s Mucchan, he probably has a whole scenario for us worked out in his head.”

“You want to make our own bet, then?”

“What do I get if I win? I already got the best prize ever.”

“That’s so cheesy.”

“You love me for it, though.”

“Yeah. I really do.”

* * *

It was easier than expected to gather everyone in the living room on a Saturday morning. Normally, there would be a few people unaccounted for – stragglers that had work or other obligations. For one, rare moment in time, though, everyone was available. It could have been coincidence or maybe it was because they had some inkling of what was going to happen.

Omi paced in the kitchen, rubbing his hands together as he tried to formulate what exactly he was going to say. He wondered if maybe he should have cooked something first – food or pastries would surely soften the blow, wouldn’t they? It would work as a reminder about why he was so useful around the form and why Sakyo shouldn’t kick him out for eloping. If not, it would surely slow everyone down before they jumped down his throat.

Taichi poked his head in, forehead creased with worry and eyes drooping a little. Neither one of them had gotten much sleep the night before. “Everyone’s here, are you ready?”

“No, but that’s not going to change any time soon.” He sighed, stepping out of the kitchen to grab Taichi’s hand. He laced their fingers together, giving a half-hearted squeeze. “What about you?”

“I think I’m okay with it, actually. But who knows anymore?” Taichi shrugged.

In his heart of hearts, Omi knew worrying about it was more exhausting than just coming clean. They had already endured enough. Now they needed to enjoy themselves and that couldn’t happen if they had to keep hiding everything. If they deserved anything, it was this much.

Omi didn’t let go of Taichi’s hand as they walked into the main living space and took note of the raised eyebrows. Banri smirked from his spot on the floor, probably already counting his supposed winnings from the betting pool. Sakuya leaned in to whisper something to Yuki, while Tenma shot them both very uncomfortable looks. Azami went bright red and looked ready to spring with accusations of premarital handholding – Omi realized he would probably be just as relieved as they were once everything was explained.

He inhaled through his nose, exhaling a shaky breath to steel himself. “We haven’t been exactly honest with you guys,” he started, almost automatically. His mind seemed to be a thousand miles away while his body worked on instinct. “So, have something important to tell you.”

“Omi-kun…Omi and I, um…what’s the best place to start? We’re together.” Taichi stumbled through his words, “Like, a couple. In a relationship.”

First, they were met with silence as everyone let the information sink in. Omi tried his best to gauge their reactions, but even as he looked at each of their faces, they failed to properly reach his brain. It was just like looking out into the audience with all the stage lights in his eyes, and for a moment, he wondered if he was hallucinating himself in a play. One with high risks and far too much drama.

Tasuku was the first to clear his throat, taking charge of the situation. “How long?”

“Oh, um…coming up on three years?” Omi answered. They didn’t ever have an established day where they said they were a couple, it was something that flowed naturally. Still, it only hit him just how long it had been when he said it out loud. “Sometime after our second play. Let’s go with that.”

“What?” Banri griped, slamming his hand down on the table. “I _lost_?!”

Yuki pushed at his shoulder, “You sure did. I hope you’re ready to pay up to Tsumugi, Neo Delinquent.”

That’s when the chatter started to pick up, as the focus shifted more towards the betting pool than Omi and Taichi. Omi felt panic creep up his spine, realizing that he would need to say something in order to get their attention again. He opened his mouth, only for nothing to come out.

Luckily Taichi stepped up, shouting, “Wait!” to get everyone’s attention. “That’s not all, can we _please_ finish?” His grip tightened, gently tugging Omi closer by his arm. “We’re not just in a relationship. We’re married!”

Any conversation grinded to a screeching halt. Suddenly all eyes were on them once again. Omi’s blood ran cold in his veins, but he didn’t let go and tried not to let it show on his face. He had stood up to much worse and resolved himself to be the strong one.

Sakyo was the first to break the silence, “Married?” He stood up, staring them down to gauge how truthful they were being. “What do you mean, ‘married’?”

“Holy shit, Taichi. How did you manage to pull _that_ off?” Banri added. “I didn’t think Omi was crazy enough to just pop the question like that. Is it even legal?”

“It is if you get permission from your parents. My mom and dad signed off on it before we went to the ward office.” Taichi stood a little straighter, defiant in his own brave way. “And why would it be so crazy that Omi would want to marry me, Ban-chan? We love each other, so why wouldn’t we want to?”

“Crazy or not, this is still—” Sakyo sighed, reaching under his glasses to pinch the bridge of his nose. “You didn’t think to tell any of us? You’re just a kid, way too young to be making these big choices. And I expected better of you too Fushi—”

Omi found his voice, cutting in, “I didn’t do anything Taichi didn’t ask for first. I know it’s unorthodox, but there’s nothing we can change about it now. If we’re happy and it doesn’t affect the company, then it shouldn’t matter, right?”

“And we _were_ going to say something, Sakyo-nii. Honest, but then you got worried about Aachan and Ku-chan, so it didn’t seem like the right time.” Omi and Taichi both knew that was more of a half-truth than anything else, but what little details Sakyo didn’t know wouldn’t help or hinder their situation any more.

Izumi placed her hand on Sakyo’s shoulder, offering him a weak smile. “Maybe this is something the four of us should talk about later?”

“We can’t put off important matters like this just because they’re uncomfortable.”

“I mean, we _just_ pointed out that we’ve been dating for years without causing any problems. Why should this change anything?”

“I have to agree with them, Sakyo-san…”

Sakyo looked between the Omi and Taichi, before letting his body relax with resignation. “We’re not done talking about this yet. But we’ll work it out somehow.”

Azuma was the one to finally break the tension, piping up. “Well, I think congratulations are in order. Not only did we find out about Mankai Company’s first relationship, but we also have a chance to celebrate our first troupe marriage. Isn’t that exciting?”

Homare let out a hearty laugh. “Oh, it’s amazing! Omi, Taichi – you _must_ let me compose a sonnet for your formal nuptials! I can already feel inspiration running through every fiber of my being! In fact I—” He was quickly muffled by Tsuzuru leaning over to cover his mouth.

“That’s enough out of you!”

Excitedly, Muku ran over to them, taking Taichi’s free hand. “I want to hear _all_ about it Taichi-kun! How did he propose? Did he take you to some remote location on his bike and get down on one knee?”

“Taichi’s the one that proposed,” Hisoka sleep-mumbled from his spot on the couch. “I was right here when he did it.”

“What? And you didn’t _tell_ any of us?”

“It didn’t seem important at the time.”

Through all the confusion and arguing, warmth bloomed in the center of Omi’s chest. He knew the next few days weren’t going to be easy, nor would the next few weeks, months, or even years. There were always going to be new challenges and people that didn’t understand his relationship. It was a choice of his own making and he accepted that. But, if there were people to come back to that supported them, he knew they could make it through.

He brought Taichi’s hand up, admiring the bright red magic marker ring he’d filled in that morning. One day, he promised himself, it would be something tangible. For now, though, he was willing to maintain it every day. Even when things got tough or it faded away, he would renew it with a fresh coat of ink and love in every stroke.

“Hey,” he said, a thought crossing his mind. “There’s something we’re forgetting.”

“Oh, and what’s that?”

It took a minute to wrangle everyone together, and another couple for Banri to grab the camera Omi had given him as a gift. Their friends all stood at the genkan, watching Omi and Taichi put their shoes on as they stepped out the door.

“The husband is supposed to carry his beautiful bride across the threshold when they get married.”

“Do you think you can pick me up? I’m kind of heavy.”

Omi swooped down, easily lifting Taichi’s shoulders with one arm and his knees in the other. “Yeah, I think I could do this every day.” He stepped in through the entryway, grinning down at Taichi.

“I’m holding you to that.” Taichi laughed, placing his hands on Omi’s cheeks and pulling him into a kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> There's a lot I could say about this fic, and the emotional energy that went into it, but it'd give me away if I said it all. After reveals I'll do a twitter thread and link it here, maybe, or I'll come back an explain.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Across the Threshold](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29874336) by Anonymous 




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